Ba Sing Se Bureau
by zokens
Summary: the ATLA and Criminal Minds AU no-one asked for but are getting regardless
1. The Recruits

Ba Sing Se Bureau. The secret organization that wasn't so secret anymore. all across the four nations crime seemed to increase dramatically and it didn't seem to stop any time soon, which meant that they needed new hires.

Agent Iroh had been allowed a team of any individuals that he wanted. Of course this included many files to go through and long grueling hours sitting at a mahogany desk and countless cups of tea consumed.

The Bureau's chosen were a group of fresh faced individuals. Agent Iroh had hand chosen a select few candidates that he assigned to his team. Iroh's hand stroked his beard as his other hand slid through the various files of paper. He had marked his favorites with a simple dragon symbol he had obtained as his moniker working for the BSSB. _The Dragon of the West._ six files laid directly in front of him. Perhaps it was an awful idea to pair all six of these individuals together. Iron's eyebrows furrowed slightly as he read the files over again for his last choice before contacting the chosen Agents.

_Suki. _The first file's said in bold letters. Iroh had liked the idea of this Suki 's amber eyes flickered to a picture of the woman. Suki was a brilliant woman with auburn hair and gray eyes, an Earth Kingdom ex Kiyoshi warrior. Suki was a combat master at 26 years old. All of her records showed her excelling in every single category. She was in Iroh's top choices. The elderly man made a soft humming noise as he sipped his Ginseng tea once more.

_Aang_, what an interesting name for this young man. In reading his file, Iroh discovered he was only 22 years old. A bit on the younger side. Still a child in Iroh's eyes but he couldn't deny that he had an impressive repertoire as well. Aang was an Air Nomad, they were docile people. This was the first application from an Air Nomad that he had received in the thirty years he had worked for BSSB.

Sokka. Iroh was very surprised to see a picture of this brutish warrior looking back at him. 27. Sokka's intelligence level was surprisingly high. he had surpassed all of the his other choices on this skill. Sokka was a tall man, dark skin, dark hair and piercing blue eyes. Very clearly Water Tribe, and very clearly an agent that he was looking for.

_Katara._ the younger sister of Sokka. Katara was a determined fighter and was an optimist. She was the type of person that they needed especially for the more brutal cases Iroh knew they would be facing. She had a very innocent look to her. Those blue eyes, tan skin and thick, dark hair would fool anyone.

_Toph._ 22 years old. She was a Beifong. Iroh's eyebrows nearly dissapeared in his hairline as soon as he read her application. Toph had sent in a file despite being blind. He was throughly impressed by her skills. She was exceptional at finding out if people were lying. Iroh immediately assigned her to the team.

One more would do. He just needed one more Agent to join the team. Iroh pulled the very last file out with a fond smile_. Zuko._ His dear nephew. he had made the decision to add Zuko at the last minute. Zuko was in no way new to the BSSB, he just had never been assigned to a team. Most people in the Bureau had refused to work with the young agent, saying he was a hot headed fool that would only get others killed. Iroh knew that was wrong and he was willing to prove everyone wrong. Of course, they didn't know Zuko like he did. Iroh didn't even need to read the files to know that Zuko was an impressive Agent at age 28. He had worked for the agency for three years now, but due to an accident in the field he wasn't allowed back in. Iroh would change that. the photo of Zuko had haunted him. It was when Zuko was a fresh agent with golden eyes shining with a fierce determination.

Iroh checked his watch, smiling a bit to himself. Perfect. He picked up the sleek black phone and began to dial all of the numbers one at a time, congratulating the new Agents. Iroh had told them the time they needed to meet the next morning. 7 am. 14th floor.

_Can't wait to see all of you. _Iroh grinned to himself as he locked the office door behind himself.


	2. Lets All Gather Around The Chaos Table

Katara's eyes widened as soon as she got the call. She had made it in. Of course Katara didn't get her moment of happiness because her older brother, Sokka burst through the door, screaming " I'm Agent Sokka now!" Accompanied with a few horrendous and dramatic kicks and punches until he was a few inches from Katara's face. all Katara could do was blink in shock. _Okay then,_ was he on some cactus juice?

Katara's brows raised as she stared at Sokka. "Well you better get used to calling me Agent Katara then" she muttered. Sokka could only stare in shock at her.

" Did you just say _Agent_ Katara?" he guffawed.

Katara nodded, flashing her phone until Sokka grabbed it from his sister. He squinted slightly to read the message. " no way. You're assigned to the same team as I am. Hell yeah, Water Tribe Siblings ready to kick major bad guy ASS."

This action made Katara physically and mentally facepalm. " yeah, I get it. Theres supposedly six of us on a team, we have to be there in the morning. 7 am" she called to her brother as she unceremoniously shoved him out of her room and slammed the door behind her so she could get to sleep.

5 am came way too fast for Katara's liking. A tan hand slid out from under the duvet as she slammed the stop button on her alarm. Katara contemplated going back to sleep, until she jolted up so hard her head slammed against her headboard. "Fuck" she yelped, rolling out from under her tangle of blankets as she finally stumbled to her feet. real nice, Katara. The first day and she already had a mark in the shape of the moon on her forehead.

Katara sighed deeply as she headed to her closet to find an outfit to wear. As soon as she had found something that didn't overtly scream she had no idea what she was doing she had dressed quickly. The faint sounds of snoring could still be heard from her wall. Spirits, Sokka really did sleep through everything. After a deep inhale, Katara stomped out of her room and banged on Sokka's bedroom door as hard as she could.

" Sokka get your butt out of this bed. I refuse to be late because you don't know how to use an alarm." Sokka grumbled in response, but ended up getting up and ready for the day. Turning back on her heels, Katara headed to her bedroom once again, beginning to brush through her long curls. She hissed in annoyance as she noticed the mark was still on her head. She headed back to the bathroom, trying to cover it up with makeup, cheering in success as soon as she noticed it was gone from being covered up by foundation.

Katara had opted to drive since she was very clearly the sibling in charge and Sokka took no arguments as he threw his bag into the backseat and slumped into the passenger seat a moment later. The drive to the Bureau was quite boring, in all honesty. Katara had tried to put some pep in Sokka's step by turning on the radio, but it only made Sokka whine more. Twenty minutes passed before they had finally arrived. Katara pulled into the parking garage and slammed on her breaks when she saw a shiny red Camaro speed into the spot that she had clearly signaled for. That was rude. She grumbled in anger and flipped off the driver before pulling into a spot that was further away. Okay, so they'd have to walk a bit. Damn it. Sokka nudged Katara slightly

" Come on. its our first day. It's going to be fine" he grinned.

Katara gasped softly as soon as the door to the elevator opened. She had never expected it to be so big and so nice. She tugged on Sokka's arm as she led him to the room that Agent Iroh had said they would be meeting at. Katara wasn't surprised to find that she and Sokka were the first ones in the room. Katara found a spot and sat down so she was facing the door. Sokka, on the other hand, pretty much fell into the chair with his head slamming on the desk.

" Let me nap." He yawned a bit, earning an eye roll.

About ten minutes of waiting passed before the door slammed open with so much force that Katara swore a bomb had gone off in the building. Sokka jerked up in his seat and yelped. the Water Tribe siblings squinted. A tiny brunette had caused the door to nearly break on impact?

Toph snorted as she turned her head in the direction of the two siblings. " not every day you see an entrance like that now is it?" She quipped.

" How did you do that." Sokka pointed to the door, expecting an extremely buff man to have came in through the door.

" I opened the door." Toph said casually, using one of her hands to feel around for a chair.

_Oh._

Sokka and Katara gave each other a knowing look. She was blind, how on earth did she pass the entrance exams?

The door opened again, this time a lot more quietly and politely to reveal a scrawny looking bald young man with arrow tattoos.

" HI! Im Aang" he greeted the three in excitement. Katara gave him a warm smile

" Im Katara, and this is my brother, Sokka." She motioned ot her older brother.

" Hi Katara, hi Sokka, hi..' He paused as he glanced at Toph.

" Toph." She said nonchalantly, yawning and sitting back with her arms over her head.

The door opened again to reveal the missing members. Katara assumed the older man was Agent Iroh by process of elimination but she stared inquisitively at the male and female that had entered behind the man. The male was tall with shaggy dark hair and a gruesome scar covering his right eye and a bit of his ear. He was undeniably handsome. Katara's eyes suddenly widened as she recognized his frame. Oh shit, he was the asshole with the Camaro.

" Prick stole my parking spot." She huffed under her breath.

The female, on the other hand was slender and tall with gorgeous Gray eyes and shoulder length Auburn hair. Judging by the look on Sokka's face, he was completely in love with her.

" Hello all." Iroh greeted warmly, motioning for everyone to take a seat around the table.

" My name is Iroh. I have chosen the six of you for my team" he grinned widely. " please introduce yourselves to each other."

" Hello, Zuko here." The jerk had introduced himself.

" Good morning guys. I'm Suki" The other female had smiled and waved at everyone.

Toph had slung her feet up on the table, giving everyone a wave with her toes. " im Toph, and before you ask me. Yes, I am really blind. "

Aang let out a soft chuckle at how blunt Toph was. He waved happily to all of the other agents " I'm Aang"

Katara raised one of her eyebrows as she stared at Toph in disbelief. So no one was going to say anything about her feet.

" Sokka. And this is Katara, my baby sister" Sokka grinned, motioning to Katara.

Iroh had given the group another warm smile, handing a file and a laptop to Katara. " would you do the honors of presenting the case to everyone?"

Katara smiled warmly back at the older man, nodding as she took both items in her hands. " of course, thank you Agent Iroh." She sat back down in her seat and began to read the case file in depth.

Not even an hour had passed and there was already an issue. Firstly, Toph had came in barefoot and had propped her feet up directly in Suki's face. Suki tried to be civil, but it was clear within the first minute of Suki trying to explain that It was rude to have her feet on the table that Toph really did not care nor was she about to move her feet off of the table. At the other end of the table, Katara and Zuko were already arguing over the case files while Aang and Sokka stared at both of the scenes in front of them, unsure how to react.

" Just give it to me to read" Zuko had begun to plead with Katara as he held out his hand towards the sulking woman

" No. Agent Iroh told me to do the case report, and thats what I'm going to do, If you don't mind will you sit down and shut up.." She huffed back at him.

Zuko blinked back at her, completely shocked with her tone. Did this little girl know who he was?

" Listen I just wanted to read it so I'm not in the dark about the case would you-"

" No." Katara repeated. " I am going to go over it, you can sit down and wait for the case to be presented like everyone else has to do. You think you're any better than any of us?."

" Hold on, I never said that. What even are you talking about?"

" You come here with your fancy car, and now you're expecting royal treatment? Who do you think you are?" Katara exclaimed, annoyed with the fact Zuko acted as if he was going to get everything he wanted.

Zuko finally gave up, but only because Sokka had been staring at him with wide eyes. Not even he was brave enough to argue with his sister in the morning.

Iroh chuckled from his corner. Oh yes, these two would be a challenge. Good, perhaps a challenge is exactly what his nephew needed.

" You can proceed, Agent Katara" Iroh said kindly, motioning to the woman so she could present the case.


	3. Longshot

Hey there, Zo here. I have plans for this story, but I also want your input of what characters you want to see in this story. ( LOK Characters are allowed too) I plan on making plenty of cases for the BSSB to solve, so I need more people to use.

also, if anyone is curious as to what the Gaang's specialties are then ill list them down below:

Aang- talking people down. Air Nomads are generally peaceful folk, so Aang is a good peacemaker. he's calm in stress induced situations which makes him perfect for hostile negations.

Suki- Suki is a special ops expert. she is a former Kiyoshi Warrior.

Zuko- Zuko is a task force agent through and through. he generally jumps to conclusions before the true nature is revealed, and is ready to jump into action without thinking of the consequences. he had been working in the task forces until his accident, then he decided to take the promotion and work with the Team alongside his uncle, Iroh

Toph- she specializes in interrogation especially. she's a tough woman who usually portrays the stereotypical "Bad Cop" Role.

Katara- Katara specializes in communications and undercover work.

Sokka- Sokka is a mastermind in profiling and usually creates plans in situations.

Iroh- Iroh is ready for retirement. he usually stays behind anywhere where there is technology and tea. he acts as the technical analyst for the team as well as a mentor and a supervisor.

Katara inhaled slightly as she turned to the screen behind her so she could explain the case. Iroh nodded in approval and clicked to the next slide on the slideshow that had portrayed the scene. The entire slideshow was full of gruesome details.

" on Thursday of last week three bodies were found with an arrow through their chest. When the arrow was taken out it was covered in Shirshu venom." She motioned with the laser pointer to the screen.

" after the bodies were examined it was found that the venom was used multiple times to subdue them." Katara motioned to another picture, portraying a corpse riddled with injection sites.

" Were any of them frequent drug users?" Aang called from his seat, his gray eyes slightly fearful.

Katara shakes her head. " no, the sites were all swabbed and everything came positive for the venom. He's using the venom to make his victims seem helpless."

Sokka stared at the pictures in front of him and let a low whistle escape his lips.

" This in not the first time bodies had shown up in the forest though. about two months ago there were five different bodies discovered in the forest in various areas. then,

A then, two weeks ago there was another group of bodies." She explained, clicking onto the next slide. " three bodies found grouped together. This brings his known body count to ten."

" So he's decreasing the amount each time? is he getting scared, or is he just finished with whatever he was trying to get done?" Toph asked.

Katara shrugs a bit and bit her lip. " unknown. The local police fear that the serial killer may kill again sometime soon. " she concluded the briefing and glanced at Iroh again for approval.

Iroh nodded. " alright, now that everyone knows about the case meet me out by the jet in ten. I will be running the technology. I'm quite old to be out in the field, you know. Not as shapely as I once was." He chuckled.

The Agents headed onto their jet and took their own respective seats as Sokka began to try and piece together what he believed the perpetrator could look like. The dark haired strategist furrowed his brows as he groaned and shook his head. None of it made sense. the suspect was obviously a male, a former sharp shooter for the military by the looks of his kills. He wasn't messy at all. Probably very quiet and reserved. Sokka nudged Katara's leg with her own.

" Hey, what do you think made this guy go off the rails? Something had to have triggered his sudden killings"

" Maybe he lost something?" Zuko suggested from his seat.

" if someone who had been through so much had lost someone that was close to him, then that would definitely be a stressor" Suki added.

Heading deeper into the forests of the Earth Kingdom shouldn't have been as uneasy to the team as it was. Katara shifted slightly from her position by Toph's side.

" This is where one of the bodies were recovered" Suki said solemnly.

Toph let out a soft grunt. " This is the half of the Kingdom that was destroyed by that crazy fire a few months ago wasn't it?" She said with realization.

Aang looked around, nodding " yeah, it is." he confirmed. Aang had done a bunch of community volunteer jobs a while back trying to help the victims of the massive fire. A lot of people lost their homes and even their lives. It was enough to make an already unstable man snap, especially if he had lost their family in this accident.

" So you're saying that this is the dumping grounds?" Toph asked, feeling the ground with her feet.

" Yeah, this is where he shot them" Sokka agreed, inhaling deeply.

" You know, looking back on these pictures something isn't setting right with me" Suki admitted, pulling out one of the pictures and setting it beside the spot they were surveying.

" they were definitely injected somewhere else, and then released. While on they were dealing with the hallucinations, the man had found some area to perch and wait until he got a clear shot." Zuko mused, rubbing a hand over his jaw.

" You think he had a personal vendetta against these men? They're all from the Fire Nation." Aang added into the conversation, raising one of his eyebrows.

" perhaps the man thought they were responsible for the fire, and he wanted revenge. He wanted them to suffer like whoever he had lost had." Katara murmured.

Zuko nodded again and wiped the sweat off his brow. " we should head back so we can share all of this with the local police force."

Iroh continued to search the database from the comforts of his chair, raising his eyebrows slightly. They had already been in the town for 6 were only so many members of the Earth Kingdom that were marksmen that had lived in that particular village and had lost their family. He dialed Zuko's number and put it on speaker as he began to speak " Zuko, I got a name and an address. " he said calmly, taking a pause to sip his tea. " Im sending it to your phones. He was last seen taking refuge in an abandoned warehouse about fifteen miles from your current locations."

" Got it. See you after this is all over."

The team had gathered to an abandoned warehouse. The sirens blared as the team hopped out of their cars, slamming the doors and pulling their guns out. This man could have taken them down without even trying, but if Sokka was correct he was so unhinged that he wouldn't be able to even concentrate on his targets. Toph kicked the door in with a grunt and began to head in with Aang in tow, followed by Zuko, Sokka, Katara and Suki. The Team filed in and began to clear every last inch of the warehouse.

" Clear." Suki called from her spot at the door, rounding a corner.

" Clear" Katara confirmed from her spot, backing up

" I got him" Zuko finally called over the coms, staring at the lanky man in the corner that stared back at him hauntingly.

Longshot, as he was named. it turns out that Sokka was correct about everything. Longshot was an ex Freedom Fighter and a phenomenal Marksman. Quiet, reserved and slighty lethargic in movement. The last part didn't fit the profile, but it fit the affects of the venom. Oh no. he had injected himself as an endgame. Zuko acted quickly, launching himself at the suspect, immediately pinning him to the ground with his knees on either side of his chest.

" ZUKO WAIT" Katara shouted from her spot, quickly yanking her gun out of her holster. Zuko's head snapped up quickly as he heard her speak. Zuko's eyes darted down towards Longshot's hand to reveal a thick syringe full of Venom centimeters from Zuko's thigh. " Don't make me do it. it's a large enough dose to kill him" Longshot's soft voice sent chills through Katara's body. It was too risky. She didn't have a clear shot without putting Zuko in danger.

" Look, buddy you're not really in a good position to try and bargain with us" Aang shouted from his position. " Seven of us against one of you. Its not looking good in your favor" he began to reason, tilting his head for a moment. " Look, all of us will put out guns away and if you drop the syringe and come quietly then it doesn't have to end negatively." Aang was terrified for Zuko's life in the moment.

Longshot continued to stare at Aang blankly before he dropped the syringe.

Katara exhaled softly as Zuko finally got off of Longshot and shoved him onto his stomach, cuffing him and gruffly informed the man of his rights. Zuko helped Longshot to his feet and thrusted him into police custody.

" Hey, Katara?" Zuko turned and placed his hand on her wrist. Katara stopped in her tracks and gave Zuko a questioning look before Zuko continued.

" Thank you." He blurted before continuing " thank you for stopping me from getting injected with the Venom." he smiled.

Katara returned the smile and nodded. " of course. were a team, you know. We have to work together or else this job would suck."

All of a sudden, a loud gurgling noise pierced the air. Zuko and Katara turned to look in the direction of the noise, watching in complete shock as Longshot began to seize violently. The venom had been a large dose, there was no way the man would have survived from it. With a quick inhale, Longshot had stilled and remained unmoving.

The jet was silent except for the occasional sips from Iroh. The man turned to the group with a grin on his lips. " Im very impressed on how all of you performed today. Congratulations on a job well done. "

Zuko frowned and glanced at Iroh angrily " we didn't save him! He died." He snapped to his uncle.

" Zuko as soon as you learn that not everyone can be saved, the easier it will be to sleep at night. I know it isn't right, but Longshot chose his way out. The venom was such a high dosage that there was no way a cure could've been given out in time. It is not your fault, Nephew." He said gently.

Zuko nodded, too tired to continue to argue the fact that it wasn't okay in his mind.

" As soon as we land back at the bureau, I'm taking everyone out for drinks. My treat" Toph shouted from her seat.

" Wait, how In the hell will you afford all of the drinks I'm gonna need after that ca-" Sokka got interrupted by Zuko elbowing him harshly in the ribs.

Katara glared at her brother. he usually wasn't outwardly rude, perhaps he was just overly exhausted.

" Beifong family." Suki deadpanned to Sokka

Toph let out a loud cackle as she glanced at the group.

" Seriously, Snoozles how did you forget about that one?" She slammed her hand on his back roughly.

Sokka groaned and laughed nervously " right."

Aang shakes his head " I would love to go, but I unfortunately have to get home" he let out a nervous chuckle.

" Got a hot date?" Toph snorted.

" No." Aang blushed a bit. " I just, I don't drink."

" Pussy."

Sokka choked on air, clearly not expecting that to come out of Toph's mouth.

Katara wasn't sure how many shots she had, but it was enough to make her want to sing karaoke. all she wanted to do was get on that stage and sing her heart out.

Suki stopped her before she could even get out of her chair, listening to the younger woman babble about how she wanted to sing her song to everyone.

" NO. " Suki said firmly. " Im calling a cab and you're going to take your little ass home and get tucked into bed by your brother who im sure will be very responsible and take care of you. Right, Sokka?" Suki turned to talk to Sokka

Sokka jumped on the table and began to sing at the top of his lungs.

Toph cringed and covered her ears. " Spirits, I wish I was deaf instead of blind. I really hate being able to hear this shit."

" you and me both." Zuko agreed, cringing at every single high note Sokka was attempting to hit.

At the end of the night it was clear that Zuko and Suki were the only responsible drinkers of the group so they had opted to call cabs for Toph, Katara and Sokka.

" Goodbye, you three. Get home and hydrate and rest." Zuko ordered.

" Of course, your highness" Katara hiccuped drunkenly, moving in a makeshift bow, but stumbling and slamming into his chest instead.

Zuko let out a soft grunt at the impact, grabbing Katara's elbows gently " yeah, yeah. go home, kid." He teased, helping her into the cab as Suki had helped Sokka into his seat beside his sister.

Toph gave a mock salute to Zuko and grinned as she fell over in her seat of her respective cab. " aye aye, Sparky." She cackled and slammed the car door.


	4. Smellerbee

A few months passed since the team was formed. They had a pretty good success rate in cases, although some of them ended in an unfortunate fatality of the perpetrator. The team had gotten in a habit of spending a lot of time together and had a bond. Suki and Sokka were inseparable and it was clear that Sokka adored her. Suki felt the same way and had ended up kissing Sokka one night after a mission that nearly costed him his life and they've been together ever since. Aang had attempted to flirt with Katara at every given moment, but she was so oblivious to it and paid no attention to it. When Suki had brought it up to Katara one night she felt bad. She then confronted Aang about his little crush and explained to him that she liked him as a friend, and she was sorry that she didn't feel the same way. Toph and Zuko had begun a very good relationship, they became like siblings to each other. Toph had never had a sibling, or even a friend really. Zuko and Katara became like the parental figures of the pair had always chastised every single other member if they did something that was remotely wrong. They mainly had to tell Sokka off or prevent Toph and Aang from causing some kind of mischief. There was a strong bond between all six of them, and they became a well liked team within the bureau, especially with Iroh as their mentor.

The team had gathered In their conference room in the morning and began to talk amongst each other let out a small cough as she got everyones attention in the room. She motioned to the screen. She motioned to the slide in the slideshow and looked around. " for a few weeks now there have been many trains across the Earth Kingdom that have been stolen. The trains have been recovered, but everyone on board was slaughtered and their belongings were stolen if they were of high value." She explained.

Suki looked at the screen, her gray eyes emotionless. It was hard to keep emotions at bay, especially when you did this job but she had no other choice. " There isn't any security footage?"

" well..there is. its not very good though. we have footage from each station, but all you can see is little clips. At one point on the train the footage goes completely blank, almost as if someone interfered with the feed before they began their heist. " Iroh interjected.

" How were all of the victims killed. Was it a one person job?"

" Seems to be a one man job. Look at this. " Zuko thrusted the file towards Aang to show him the more detailed crime scene pictures.

Aang winced inwardly at the gorey scene.

" Coroner confirmed it was done with the same knife. Sneak attack, ninja style." Sokka said, Turning towards the rest of the group as he had read the coroner's report out loud.

"Get ready. we're gonna go undercover." Zuko informed, kicking his chair back and getting up. He raised his eyebrow and glanced at the group. " Hope you're all comfortable with a change in scenery. we're going to be taking a trip to the train station." He teased as the team followed Zuko, sans iroh.

Katara slid her sunglasses down over her face as soon as she stepped into the train station. If Sokka and Iroh's calculations were correct the next train heist would be on the train heading southbound from Omashu. This train stealer was making a pattern for herself and Omahu seemed like the next likely area to hit. The dark haired woman tossed her hair behind her shoulder before grabbing her ticket from the booth. She gave the ticket seller a small smile and headed towards the train, tilting her head to examine the scene before her. The station was full, which made matters worse. They didn't know anything about the perpetrator this time. She was undercover as a University student that was heading home for her grandmother's birthday. She found her seat and sat down, making sure she could get a good look on the scene in front of her, directly facing towards the Train car doors. The train began to take off and Katara decided on ordering a cup of coffee. Iroh nearly passed out as soon as he heard her call the order to the Service Attendant.

She rolled her eyes mentally at the overdramatic gasp from Iroh's end. She rubbed her face with her sleeve and mumbled " Footage still up?"

" Affirmative." Iroh confirmed for her before continuing. " there's a woman heading your direction. She keeps looking around. " he continued.

Katara swallowed and smiled up at the service attendant as she was handed her mug.

" Copy."

Katara placed her finger on her earpiece as she murmured into it " I got eyes on a possible suspect." She took a sip of her coffee, pretending to focus on reading a novel. Katara put on the sweetest smile as she looked at the young woman with shaggy brown hair.

" Is this seat taken?" Smellerbee asks, motioning to the seat across from her.

Katara shakes her head. " No, its free. Go ahead" she nodded, rubbing her fingers across her necklace. She had purposely worn he mothers necklace because she knew it would catch the eye of the perpetrator.

" That's pretty." Smellerbee said softly.

" Thank you. It belonged to my mother before she died." Katara said gently. She was almost certain that it had to be her that was the suspect now.

" Cameras in your car are all out now. As soon as that woman got into the car she shorted the footage out somehow. I'm blind in here." Iroh warned Katara.

Katara couldn't respond back without making it seem suspicious so all she did was turn her attention back to Smellerbee, deciding to make small talk.

"So, where are you going to?"

" Im heading to the edges of the Earth Kingdom." Smellerbee revealed, being very vague with her answers.

Katara smiled, placing her hands on top of Smellerbee's gently, gasping " Me too!"

Smellerbee smiled, slightly uncomfortable at the touching.

While Katara was telling Smellerbee a fake narrative, a few cars down, Aang and Suki were placed by the baggage area, quickly throwing on Service Attendant clothes to keep their cover.

" You head towards the front, and i'll take the back" Aang suggested.

Suki nodded and quickly fixed the hat over her head as she headed out the door, flashing a glance at the cameras that she knew were still in service. She had gotten a sight of Katara who had nonchalantly signaled to her that she could handle it. Suki continued her act, but got stopped when an elderly man had began to ask her a question. Aang didn't have much luck in his position either. He was surprisingly really good at Pretending to be a worker. He was unfortunately, too good and too kind to refuse to help people.

Toph and Zuko had decided on stowing away instead. Toph was very loudly bumping into every single seat. She was slightly disoriented from how fast the train was moving. It had thrown Toph's senses out of let out a loud laugh as Toph bumped into a wall.

" that's a wall, Toph"

" WELL YOU SHOULD HAVE FREAKING TOLD ME" she screamed indignantly

" I just did."

Toph growled under her breath and stomped off, heading to her respective position, cursing and mumbling angrily the entire time.

Katara immediately took off sprinting as soon as Smellerbee had gotten up and Bega to power walk towards the conductor's car.

She was suspicious from the get go and it was clear she was the suspect they were looking for. Smellerbee leapt agilely across the beams that separated the cars from each other. " stop!" Katara shouted, leaping over them as well. " BSSB, drop your knife." Katara yelled.

Smellerbee smirked a bit and grabbed the conductor, quickly slitting his throat.

The man fell to the ground, dead before he made impact. " no. " she said firmly

Katara raised her gun , pulling the trigger almost immediately.

The bullet whizzed right past Smellerbee and out the window. The tiny woman was almost too quick. Katara would be wasting her bullets if she continued. She couldn't catch her this way. She hissed in frustration and flipped the safety back on, pocketing the gun and getting a little closer, raising her hands in the air. " hey, I'm not gonna do anything. " she said calmly.

" don't get any closer! I'll stab you like I stabbed him" Smellerbee shrieked, beginning to take control of the train. Katara saw an opportunity and took it. She leapt over and tackled the woman against the control panels, beginning to punch and kick. With each hit she made, Smellerbee made almost an equally balanced block or attack. They were nearly equals in their hand to hand.

Smellerbee slashed the knife downwards at Katara, grazing her arm. Katara hissed in pain and slammed her opposite hand into Smellerbee's chest, grabbing her wrist and twisting it so that the knife dropped with a loud clank as it hit the floor next to the corpse.

Zuko slammed the door open, his eyes widened in shock as he noticed Smellerbee and Katara in perfectly matched combat. He began to rush forward but was stopped by a loud scream of annoyance.

Katara had Smellerbee cornered in the control room and were currently wrestling over control of the train. " Zuko, get out of here, make sure you can separate this car from the others" she gasped out as Smellerbee sent a strong kick in her gut. Zuko trusted her enough to know she could handle herself, but he was hesitant to do so.

" No, I'm not gonna leave you here alone. I refuse, you've saved my ass before and now I'm here to save yours!"

" You have to, you need to help protect the passengers. I give you my word that I will take control of the train back. You need to get the hell out of here. Find Sokka. He will know what to do" Katara grunted out between each hit.

Zuko finally nodded in agreement and began to send the orders through his earpiece so the others would know what to do as he had leapt over the barrier that separated the control room from the first class. Katara got out of Smellerbee's grip long enough to be able to slam her fist on the controls, separating the cars from the conductor's car.

Zuko gave her a sad look before racing back to find Toph and Aang who were about to jump out of the train car.

" Sokka and I will make sure the passengers are safe" Suki promised Zuko as she shoved Sokka towards the passengers that had gathered in the caboose.

Zuko gave another nod and looked at Aang and Toph. " on the count of three, we need to jump." He informed, locking his hands with Toph's gently to guide her.

" one." He called, swallowing roughly as he noticed the conductor car begin to pick up speed again.

" two." Aang said confidently, gripping onto Toph's other hand.

" Three" Toph shouted impatiently as she tugged both men with her. The three of them stumbled and crashed violently to the ground in a pile of limbs.

Aang sat up and spat dirt out of his mouth" yuck!" He grunted. " is everyone okay?"

" I'm good, Twinkletoes. Got all of my limbs. How about you, Sparky?"

" yeah, I'm good." Zuko panted a bit, rolling over and groaning as he stumbled back to his feet, tugging Aang and Toph along as Iroh had sped up in a car.

The three had barreled into the car and took off, sirens blaring as they maxed their accelerator out.

Smellerbee hissed in pain as she slid another dagger out of her pocket, slashing it against Katara's skin.

Katara wouldn't give Smellerbee the satisfaction of screaming, instead she looked at her in the eyes and head butted her as hard as she could, getting a grip of her shoulders and slamming her into wall. " stop!" Katara gasped again.

" I can't." Smellerbee shouted, slashing at Katara again. This forced the taller woman to back up. She grunted and began to wrack her mind for an idea. What would Sokka do?

Smellerbee went for another attack, but this time Katara was too quick. She spun around and gripped the handle that controlled the breaks.

Smellerbee slammed into Katara again until she was in the floor in the pool of blood blood from the conductor. " say your last words, Agent." She hissed, spitting in Katara's face

" that's gonna leave a mark." Katara sassed before she jammed the knife that was on the floor into Smellerbee's gut, sending the woman flying off once again. Katara then kicked the handle that controlled the speed of the train so hard it jammed and began to pick up speed.

Katara glanced at Smellerbee who was gripping onto her stomach in disbelief and jumped out of the train car just in time.

Suki and Sokka had gotten the passengers of the train to the very last car.

" Listen up everyone. BSSB." Sokka flashed his badge to the crowd to calm them down a bit.

" Everyone is going to be okay. You just need to trust us." Suki said calmly.

Sokka was hatching a plan to stop the car. There was too many cars that separated him and his sister and he was worried for her. He bit his lip and glanced around before furiously tearing at some of the larger pieces of equipment.

" Sokka!" Suki gasped out in shock, confused by his actions.

Sokka couldn't reply. He was too busy trying to make a makeshift brake out of machinery and various passenger baggage. He frowned and began to tie a few loose ends together.

"Listen, I'm trying to slow the train down a bit. If it crashes we may still get injured but I need to reduce those odds more. You grab this end" He trusted it towards Suki who took it and headed towards the door of the train car.

Sokka had shoved the other end up into the luggage racks, then tied a few of the makeshift shirts tightly around it.

" On my signal, throw it like its a spear, if you're accurate enough-" he got cut off by Suki's death glare.

" I mean, once you throw it and it lands in the ground it should have enough weight to it to begin to drag and catch on something, slowing the train down enough to let the passengers off safely."

Suki nodded, glancing back at Sokka as he was watching, waiting until..

Sokka finally Yelled " THROW IT NOW, SUKI"

Suki obliged and launched the invention as hard as she could. She watched as it sailed through the air and finally launched itself in the ground with an ear piercing screech that made many passengers cringe and cover their ears.

Once the train had slowed enough that it was moving idly along, Sokka began to nudge passengers to the front. " you're all going to have to get off as soon as it stops."

he instructed, showing them a direct path to safety.

Iroh, Toph, Aang and Zuko had came barreling down the mountain in a car. Toph and Aang had exited the car and raced towards the train, beginning to assist Suki and Sokka with the passengers while Zuko got onto the train again.

As soon as everyone was off and Zuko had cleared every remaining car, his head jerked up as he heard an explosion so loud he swore the mountain shook. The Team raced off towards the noise once again, frightened for Katara's life.

" Where is Katara?" Zuko shouted angrily, looking around the wreckage. The train cars had been stopped, but the control room car had crashed into the side of the mountain. He was worried out of his mind.

"KATARA?"

"SWEETNESS?" Toph began to yell from beside Aang, beginning to rummage through piles of debris. It was so hard to even breathe from the amount of smoke from the flames.

Sokka, Aang and Suki had sped up in a patrol car. Sokka slammed his foot on the breaks and nearly jumped out of the window. "Where the hell is my sister! Why did you let her go alone, you jerk?" He screamed, grabbing Zuko by his shirt.

" I trusted her, Im so so sorry, Sokka. I shouldn't have let her go alone. It's my fault. i don't know where she is." Zuko choked out shakily. If Katara was dead, it would destroy him. He had developed a fondness for her and wouldn't admit it outloud but he found her to be stunning and fierce.

" Hey, what the hell are you guys screaming at each other for?" Katara croaked from one of the ditches. She was covered in blood and crawling towards the group with a determined smile plastered on her face despite the excruciating pain she was in.

"Katara." Zuko breathed, sprinting over and sliding on his knees as soon as he reached her side. He pulled her into his arms and hugged her tightly, stroking her hair." You're okay? We thought you died.. the train car exploded and there's so much.." He choked out, unsure of how to continue explaining the scene in front of them.

Katara let out a soft squeak of pain as soon as Zuko hugged her, but smiled." Seems to me like you really care about me." She teased.

He chuckled and sighed. " don't ever scare me like that again." He sighed into her hair, letting her go as he examined her once more. " are you okay? You're covered in blood." Zuko finally said after his frantic checking.

Katara nodded a bit. " when I jumped out I made sure to tuck myself and roll" she said tiredly. " I landed in that ditch and I guess I cut myself over the rocks and thorns. I think I'm okay. I don't think anything is broken. Most of this blood isn't mine, I don't think at least."

" we've called EMS, they're on their way" Toph said, catching her breath since she had sprinted towards them. " you okay, sweetness?"

Katara didn't have time to reply because she heard Sokka screaming her name at the top of his lungs.

Sokka tackled Katara into a hug, nearly sobbing at the sight of his baby scared the shit out of me, Katara! I thought I lost you! I couldn't handle that if I lost you-" he choked, kissing the side of her head affectionately.

Suki and Aang had finally caught up by the time Sokka had let go of his sister.

" is she okay?" Aang said nervously.

Katara smiled at Aang and nodded, pulling him and Suki into a hug. " I'm fine" she reassured them.

" regardless, you're getting checked out. We can't risk you having internal bleeding and dying on us" Zuko said firmly.

As soon as the ambulance came and checked Katara out they sent her to the hospital to get stitches and to make sure she didn't have a concussion since she had head butted Smellerbee so hard.

Zuko sat in the chair beside the bed as he listened to Katara's soft hisses of pain as she was getting stitched up.

" look at you, you're all badass now." Zuko said in a playful rasp

" shut up. At least I don't have a concussion."

" yeah, cause if you did I would have to bench you until you were cleared."

" bench me? If this is a game then it's the shittiest game ever played" she laughed

Zuko laughed as well and looked at her. " go home and get some rest. Take it easy. " he instructed

Katara nodded, glancing back at the door as Sokka had came in. " hey, you about ready to go?" He asked

Karate nodded once more. She felt like shit and felt like she needed to sleep for a whole month.

Zuko gently helped Katara to her feet and then smiled

" I'll see you guys later. Have a good night" he waved goodbye and left the hospital

Sokka wiggled his eyebrows playfully as he took Katara's uninjured arm in his " what do you want for dinner?"

" sleep." Katara replied

" that's fair." Sokka agreed and helped her to their car and then helped her into bed as soon as they had gotten home. He was glad his little sister was okay. She was his best friend and he was hers.


	5. Punching Therapy

Punching Therapy

It had been a few weeks since the incident with Smellerbee had occurred Katara was tired of waiting to be cleared. it seems as if the team did nothing but wait on her hand and foot.

Sokka was the worst, honestly. He had treated her as if she was dying. Katara was NOT dying, not like her mother had died.

" Sokka, get away from me." She snapped at her older brother suddenly.

Sokka stepped back as if he had been punched in the face as he dropped the tray of food.

" huh?" he swallowed hard and stared at Katara.

" I told you a thousand times today that I'm fine. I swear if you ask me again I really will throw a table at you." She had been so pent up and angry with having to stay in bed that she didn't realize she was overly snappy to everyone. They had wanted to help, and she was repaying them by being an asshole.

Katara softened after a moment, noticing that her tone was quite harsh. She sighed, then looked at Sokka. " Look, Sokka, in' really sorry about that" she stammered out slightly.

Sokka shakes his head and smiled at his sister. He understood that she was hating it, and she just wanted to get out of the apartment so of course she would be overly grumpy. " don't apologize to me, I understand. I invited the team over by the way. Suki and I are going to the movies. I promised her I would take her out tonight."

Katara pouted at that. She wanted to go. Literally stepping out of the apartment to go to walk to the dumpsters would be better than sitting here.

" You can't go cause we are gonna be making out the entire time." Sokka said.

Katara's face fell as she groaned and made a disgusted face. " okay, ew never mind that then. I won't ask to go. Thank you for inviting the others to come and hang out with me. The doctor said I could go back to work soon"

" If you go one day without a headache, then you can go to work tomorrow, 'Tara." He sighed as he leaned over to hug his sister gently. Katara hugged Sokka and then smacked him in the back. " okay, don't crush me. off."

Toph, Zuko, Aang and Suki had burst into Katara and Sokka's apartment. Toph stomped up the stairs and screamed at the top of her lungs " Sugar Queen, how ya feeling?"

Toph's entrance had made everyone in the entire building cringe. Honestly, Sokka and Katara had gotten twelve noise complains in the last week from the other residents in their apartment building and the landlord had threatened them more than once to keep the noise down.

" shush!" Sokka whined a bit as he faced the blind woman. " dude, if you're any louder we're literally going to get thrown on our asses out the window! Our neighbours hate us and so does our landlord. We don't want to be homeless cause you're loud as fuck!" he complained to Toph.

Zuko laughed softly, shaking his head. " you could always come crash with me and Uncle"

" thank you for your concern and your hospitality. " Katara blurted, stretching slightly as she looked at everyone.

" you look terrible" Toph said suddenly.

" HEY! I don't look that-"

The whole room got dead silent at the sudden realisation.

" TOPH" Suki gasped, slapping Toph's shoulder. " stop doing that. You know we forget you're blind."

Toph laughed loudly and flopped down onto Katara's bed, wiping her eyes slightly. She had laughed so hard she made herself cry. That little shit.

" anyway, Suki and I are going to watch a movie like I said earlier, K." Sokka grinned.

" Zuko is on babysitting duty!" Toph called, getting up and grabbing Aang by his hoodie.

" where are you two going?" Zuko asked, pinching the bridge of his nose.

" I dont know. Somewhere where we don't have to look at Katara being upset over being bed bound" Toph shrugged

" hold on you-" Zuko paused, shaking his head. He was tired of having to do this over and over. " whatever. Don't get into trouble or I swear I'm not going to bail you out of jail"

" who said anything about doing deviant shit? " Toph replied.

" you're Toph and Aang. You always do deviant shit"

" actually, I was planning on going to look at animals from the animal shelter.."Aang trailed off. He was a lonely man, perhaps a dog or cat to keep him company would be good.

Zuko shakes his head once more and waved the pair off. " fine, go look at cute puppies and leave me to take care of little Katara over here" he made a fake pout and patted Katara's head.

Katara glared at him. If looks could kill,Zuko would be ten feet under right now.

Toph and Aang left the apartment not too long after Suki and Sokka had and went on their way. That had left Katara and Zuko alone.

" twenty minutes passed and Katara was already tired of being under Zuko's watch.

" I want to get out of here." Katara complained to Zuko, giving him a slight pouty face. " please can you take me somewhere?"

Zuko sighed, raising his eyebrow curiously as he placed his phone down on the table top. " and where are you suggesting we go?"

" the gym? I haven't been in days and I feel so out of shape and horrible.. please Zuko I never ask you for anything!"

Zuko thought for a moment. " okay, you said you haven't hear a headache all day right?"

" yep. I promise I've been a good girl. I ate breakfast and lunch with no complains and no sickness feeling whatsoever." She grinned

" wow, you really weren't kidding when you told me Sokka has been nursing you like you were dying."

Katara sighed. " he thought I died. We lost our mother when I was eight and he was ten, so I guess he just panicked and wanted to make sure I really was okay. I don't blame him. It was kind of nice to be mothered for a while.. then I realised it was really freaking annoying. I don't know why he lets me mother him sometimes" she admitted to Zuko with a small frown. " our father was in the military and he would be gone a lot, so we would live with our Gran-Gran. She practically raised us."

Zuko frowned and rubbed his thumb over Katara's hand lightly. " it's okay. All of us are here and we're a family now right?" He said softly. " you get up and get ready. We're going to the gym." He ordered her

Katara let out a happy squeal and nearly flipped the bed over as she got up and raced to her closet to get changed.

Zuko chuckled and shook his head affectionately as he left her bedroom to let her have privacy.

Katara stepped out of her bedroom in a pair of blue shorts and a tank top with the logo of a moon. She had tied her hair In a high ponytail and grinned at Zuko excitedly " can we go now, please?"

Zuko nodded a bit and motioned to the steps. " yeah, okay. You tell me if it's too much and I will stop and take you home right then and there. I will not have you getting even more hurt, you hear me?" He poked her nose with his index finger.

She furrowed her brows and slapped his hand away. " I got it, Spirits!" She cried in annoyance." I am not a child, I will tell you when enough is enough. Trust me a little, why don't you?!"

Zuko chuckled and watched as Katara made her way down the stairs carefully. Zuko grabbed a water bottle for the both of them in one hand and then grabbed his car keys in other.

" Wait a second. you're letting me sit in your sexy Camaro?"

Katara gasped in shock, placing a hand over her heart as she scampered towards the red beauty.

" well, yeah, do you wanna take your mom van instead?"

" hell no. I've only ever been this close to a Camaro once and that was when your rude ass stole my parking spot" she glared

" right." Zuko said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. " I'm sorry about that. I was in a hurry and I needed to find somewhere to park."

She glares at him once more. " unlock the damn door." He obeyed and got in, starting the car up.

Katara gasped, placing her hands along the dashboard of the car, rubbing it sensually. " this car is so beautiful.."

" yeah, perks of being rich, I guess" Zuko mumbled. " I got it for my twenty first birthday." He admitted to her.

Katara's mouth fell open, but she didn't say anything back to him.

Zuko revved the engine for her playfully, his amber eyes sparkling in excitement as he took off, purposely speeding as much as he could to get a laugh out of Katara.

As soon as Zuko had pulled into the parking lot for the gym he turned to look at Katara once more. " you're a hundred percent sure that you want to work out, right?"

Katara nods. " I literally told you that I'm fine, Zuko. I'm gonna kick your ass if you keep asking me!" She hissed out in frustration.

Zuko snorted " kick my ass? You're tiny. What do you think you're gonna do? Kick my shins?"

Katara glared. " that's it. I'm getting boxing gloves. Square up with me. Right now! "

" are you- did you?" He choked out a laugh, glancing at her in confusion.

" god damn it, I said get the gloves on. I'm kicking your ass! Oh and by the way, I'm not that small. You're just a lanky freaking tree!"

Zuko wasn't sure what to say to that. If sparring with her would get all of her feelings out. She was cooped up for so long so who knows how much pent up energy she had.

Zuko gestured to the door to the gym " okay, you're on." He agreed.

Katara stomped to where the boxing gloves were and thrusted her pair on her hands in annoyance, glancing back and waiting for Zuko to grab his.

" we could do it without the gloves. It would be easier and more fun."

Katara's eyes narrowed.

Zuko opened his mouth to continue " and we can do other things than just punch each other."

" sold." Katara agreed, throwing them to the ground. The poor gym manager was staring the the two in utter confusion and shock. Was the girl ever gonna pick up her gloves and put them back?

The manager didn't care. He picked up his phone and clicked on a picture of his alarm system. He sighed dreamily as he stared into the image of his beloved cabbages.

Katara circled Zuko, her eyes full of annoyance and rage.

" are you gonna just glare, or are you going to attack?" Zuko taunted her

" I'm gonna kick your ass. I told you I was gonna do it, so now I'm gonna." She hissed out, reaching her arm out to send a hard punch in his direction.

Zuko grabbed onto her fist and pulled her closer to him, glaring down at her. " you really want to play, Katara?"

" yes."

Zuko let go and shoved her back slightly.

Katara stood her ground, instead kicking her leg out in a high kick, hitting Zuko directly in the chest. Zuko gripped onto her leg and twisted it slightly, which caused Katara to spin and twist a bit. She turned her body before she landed on the ground and did a small flip. Zuko was surprised by her strength and ended up letting her go.

Katara panted as she stood back up from her flip, catching Zuko's arm just as he had reached for her. The pair spun again. It was like an elaborate dance between the pair. Every hit and kick was matched. They worked well together, and anyone who was in the gym watching could see that.

Katara grunted in anger as she elbowed Zuko in the sternum. Zuko grunted In reply, but placed his legs between hers and knocked her slightly off of balance. Katara locked her legs around his and then rugged as hard as she could.

The pair went crashing to the mats underneath them. Panting and dripping sweat. Zuko gritted his teeth and slammed Katara under him and to the mat.

" give up?"

" never."

Zuko laughed as Katara wiggled underneath him again. She then moved to place her hand on the middle of his chest, shoving him hard enough to create a space between them. They were pressed so close together she could feel his breath on her neck. She wiggled again, escaping from his grip.

Zuko glanced at her, and gripped onto the back of her shirt, tugging her back down. Katara yelped and rolled slightly, landing on top of him. She was practically straddling him. She leaned over and placed her hands on his wrists as his palms faced up.

" aren't you a big girl now?" Zuko mused, panting a bit. He was impressed and a little aroused.

" I keep my promises. I told you I was going to kick your ass and I did."

" I didn't say I give up, now did I?" Zuko sneered back, twisting his wrists and escaping her grip almost too easily

The pair sparred for hours until they were literally soaked with sweat. Katara panted and pushed Zuko's shoulder " okay, I'm done this time for real." She said softly, pulling up the end of her tank top to wipe her sweaty face.

Zuko grinned and passed the water bottle to her. " I'm pretty impressed that you held your own." He said softly, looking down at her.

" well, I had to get my frustrations out some way."

" there was more than one way to do that, you know" he murmured under his breath.

Katara turned to look at him. " wanna get some dinner?" She asked

" ew no we can't go in public anywhere. we smell. Let's just have a pizza delivered to your apartment."

Katara nodded again. " sounds like a plan." She whacked him in the chest with her empty water bottle, turning to look back at him with a playful smirk plastered on her lips " gonna leave me waiting?"

" hell no." Zuko grumbled and tossed both of their empty bottles in the garbage as he followed her.

Katara was leaning over the Camaro, looking at the door as she waited for Zuko to come out. She was trying to purposely tease him. " wow, making me wait? So ungentlemanly of you."

Zuko groaned as he looked at Katara. Fantasies were running wild in his head. " f-fuck" he hissed out under his breath.

" stop being a bitch. Get in the car and order the pizza so we don't have to wait forever." He clicked the unlock button and waited for Katara to get in as he got into the drivers seat

Katara giggles girlishly and pulled her phone out, ordering pizza for them to share. Zuko focused solely on the road. He couldn't even bare to look at Katara. His jaw was clenched the entire drive back to the apartment. He was thankful that Katara either didn't notice he was aroused, didn't care, or she really was just oblivious to the fact that she was the sexiest thing he had seen in his entire life.

Katara looked at Zuko after a moment, studying his clenched jaw. He was so tense, it was unsettling.

" Well, we're back at the apartment. Did you order the pizza?" He asked suddenly.

Katara nearly jumped, not expecting him to speak. She was so out of it. They had been sitting in the parking lot for nearly five whole minutes now.

She nodded her head. " Pizza is ordered, says it's gonna be here in about thirsty-THIRTY minutes" She corrected herself, choking over her words. Damn girl, why was she suddenly so hot for Zuko? Sure she thought he was super attractive but something about the look in his eyes when they were sparring was drop dead sexy.

Zuko inhaled and chuckled a bit. " so, do you mind if I use Sokka's shower then? I uhm guess I'm pretty disgusting." He wrinkled his nose.

"Nope. Go right ahead. " Katara smiled and closed the car door behind her.

The duo were silent as they walked to the apartment door. Katara quickly jammed her key inside and opened it. " Sokka's bathroom is the third door to the right. You can't miss it. Im sure you can use some of his clothes. The clean ones are on his bed, you know where his room is by now" she quickly headed off to her own respective shower.

After Katara finished her shower she threw on a pair of loose pajama bottoms and an old shirt that belonged to her father. She had stolen it last time she had seen him.

Zuko walked out of the bathroom in a pair of gray sweatpants that hung loosely on his hips as well as his hair dripping. He was busy towel drying it, so he didn't have a chance to notice Katara until he heard her squeak in surprise.

" Shit, Zuko."

"Huh? Oh. " He looked up and noticed Katara had been staring at him with wide eyes.

" Sorry." Katara squeaked and turned back around.

The doorbell rang and Katara then took this as an opportunity to get the fuck outta there and grab the pizza, and that is exactly what she did.

She plopped on the sofa and turned on the tv to some shitty action movie.

Zuko and Katara complained about how it was inaccurate and made fun of it the entire time they watched it and ate their pizza.

It was nearly one am by the time the movie was over. Katara's legs were sprawled out over Zuko's lap and Zuko had his arm propped up on one of the sofa cushions. The pair were really struggling to stay awake now.

There was no sign of Sokka so Katara assumed he had gone to stay at Suki's house overnight. Katara sighed softly as she relaxed, cuddling herself up to Zuko slightly. There was no sound from the older man other than a few soft sighs from his lips. Soon enough Zuko and Katara had fallen asleep.


	6. Its Your Move Next

Katara could not get Zuko out of her mind. She felt like she was seriously going bonkers thinking about their time in the gym. It made her hot and bothered just thinking about how he had pinned her down and got so close to her face. Ugh, curse his good looks. She had arrived at work early to prepare their next case. She was sitting facing the door with a cup of tea in one hand and her laptop in the other. She pursed her lips a bit, reading through the case file. She had learned very quickly that when you worked this job, you had to learn to separate your feelings quickly or else it could interfere in your daily life. her Grandmother was a surgeon so she had grown up seeing her perform surgeries, which had made both her and Sokka become desensitized pretty young. Katara continued to scroll through the countless number of crime scene photos until she heard the door open. Who would be here this early?

" Katara, what are you doing here so early?" Iroh asked curiously, pulling a chair to roll it towards her.

" I came in early so I could get ahead of the case today. "

" oh, the Arson I got a call about?"

She nodded a bit. " its pretty bad, you know. I didn't know bodies could look like that.

" Anything is possible when it comes this suspect you know. The scenes were violent and disarray. Whoever did this was extremely violent and reckless. He was covering something else up, I fear." He admitted.

" You and Zuko are from Caldera arent you?" Katara asks. They looked exactly like the citizens you would see there. The dark hair, golden eyes, pale skin.

" Is it that noticeable?" Iroh joked, sipping on his tea.

Katara smiled slightly. "yeah. It is. is there a reason you left?"

" Yes, but my reason is different than Zuko's. It isn't my story to tell and if he ever decides to reveal it to you, then it will be of his own free will. Caldera is not the city that it once was." Iroh said sadly.

Katara didn't dare push any further, but nodded obediently. The pair stayed silent until the rest of the team had filed in about thirty minutes later.

Katara waited until it was time, then stood up and straightened her suit jacket slightly. She nervously brushed off some lint off of the bottom to distract herself from glancing at Zuko. She felt like she was on fire as Zuko stared at her. How convenient. She walked confidently up to the board, then clicked on the screen with her finger, bringing up the images.

The room was silent as they kept their attention on Katara. She clears her throat slightly and then motioned to the board.

" So our case involves Arsons. There have been a series of violent arsons in the city of Caldera." Katara pointed to the scene, then began to scroll through the slides, showing the.

Zuko stiffened as soon as he heard the name of the city he had grown up in. Caldera was not a good city, he sure as hell did not want to be back there and relive his childhood.

Iroh gave Zuko a look, noticing the dramatic change in Zuko's demeanor.

" So why did they call us here for fires?" Toph asked, interrupting Katara before she could get any further into the case brief

If she could see, she would have seen the pictures which clearly encased that there were bodies, but of course, everyone usually forgot she was blind because it didn't define her. Suki leaned over to Toph, getting close as she whispered in her ear.

" Theres pictures of bodies."

" Oh. why the hell didn't you say so?"

" Sorry. That's my bad." Katara apologized sheepishly

" Well, you didn't let her finish yet either." Aang pointed out.

Toph shrugged a bit. " yeah, but you know we hate this part. Just explain the goods so we can get to Caldera."

Katara shot Toph a slight glare. " as I was saying before I was interrupted, I was explaining how the arsonist is violent and impulsive. He seems to be on a spiral if you look at the comparisons between the first scene and the last arson he committed. The first few are very neat, textbook perfect murders. as he spiraled slightly, the bodies that were found were in such a condition that the Caldera Coroner couldn't determine the cause of death." Katara trailed off.

" great. lets get this over with." Zuko got up, grabbing his bag as he looked around. "The Jet is gonna leave in ten minutes so be there or I'm going to leave without you." He was visibly tense and annoyed.

The team boarded their jet and sat in their seats. Sokka sat across from Suki, Iroh joined Aang, Toph sat beside him as she leaned on the table. Katara sat across from Zuko, bringing her knee up to her chest as she glanced at Zuko. He was really quiet.

" are you okay?"

" I'm fine. Thank you for checking on me." He lied and looked at her

" you're not, but I'm not going to press you. When you're ready to talk to me, let me know" she smiled a bit

" perhaps when we get back from Caldera you'll let me take you to a nice dinner and I'll explain what's wrong?" Zuko pressed a bit as he gave her a pleading look. He really liked her and he wanted to tell her the truth.

Katara looked at him with her eyes as big as the moon. " really?" She asked

" I mean- if you say no.. it's okay." He stammered out quickly

" I wasn't going to say no, Zuko."

He smiled again. " do you like pasta?"

" I love pasta." She affirmed.

Aang sat in silence as Iroh began to teach him the rules of Pai Sho. Toph was listening into their game, concentrating on the sounds of the tiles hitting the board.

The Caldera Police department reminded Zuko of home. Well, it was home. As a kid he used to spend a lot of time here with Iroh. It was one of the only places he knew he was safe at.

" it's not changed a bit" Iroh said affectionately.

Zuko cracked a small smile. " yeah. Still as shitty as ever. I bet they needed our help cause they were too backlogged to have anyone else to handle it. "

" that's not true."

" I know. I missed this place as much as you did, you know.

" I know. You have that light in your eyes." Iroh smiled and went to set up his communications at one of the computers.

hey hot shot." A female detective approached Zuko.

" Jun. It's great to see you again. " he grinned

" you too. Look at you in the big leagues now" she smiled softly, hugging him.

He hugged back and pulled away after a moment. " you got here just in time. There's been another hit on a retired lieutenant's house. "

" who was it this time?" He asked.

" Jee. "

" oh." Zuko remembered him well.

" yeah, he used to be that drunk dude that would get on top of those bar tables and sing" she laughed.

" he was arrogant" Iroh snorted, walking to the side as he looked at Jun and Zuko.

" Ah.. my favourite old man." Jun teased, hugging him tightly

Iroh hugged back and smiled a bit.

" so, you said Jee was the last target?"

She nodded.

" our team just finished up at the crime scene, but I can take you there."

Zuko nodded. " yeah, the team will follow you." He moved his hand out in front of him. " lead the way."

Jun walked passed them and got into her car, leading the team to the crime scene. She pulled into the parking lot at a house that was caved in and covered in soot.

Zuko parked and got out of his vehicle with Sokka, followed by the vehicle that Suki had driven that held Katara, Aang and Toph.

" wow. We're lucky that there's a house left" Sokka mumbled as they pulled up to the house.

" Sokka." Katara gasped, smacking his chest

" what. I mean that dude is toasty in there"

" Gran-Gran told us to never speak ill of the dead. Stop before you get dragged to the depths of hell." She glared a bit.

They got into the house and surrounded the body, but stayed a good distance away, surveying the scene.

Sokka moved to touch the body with the toe of his boot but Aang nudged him roughly. " stop. You can't"

" what? You're not curious?"

" not in the slightest. That's not our job." He huffed softly

" you're right, we're not the coroner's but it's kinda cool"

" SOKKA, you're digging your hell pit even deeper." Katara warned him.

" sorry." He huffed.

Katara began to look around the house, frowning a bit. " this was personal. Look.. " she motioned to some of the burn marks. " there's a message. He seemed really angry."

Aang steppes beside her and began to read out loud " you've disappointed the Phoenix King for the last time. What does that mean?"

" perhaps that's the arsonist's name?" Toph suggested

" that's the dumbest shit I've ever heard" Katara huffed.

" you're right. It's not a good nickname."

" kinda catchy. I think it'll grow on me" Sokka mused a bit.

The group began to debate about possible motives, but found there wasn't many. It seemed that this arsonist had a pretty large god complex though, or well, whoever the Phoenix King was did.

" you know. that one is pretty" Jun remarked to Zuko, smirking a bit as she pointed to Katara who was talking to one of the first responders to get some more details of what they had thought went down. ." I like her. She's just your type. Feisty and headstrong. Doesn't take shit from her brother, which means she probably wouldn't take shit from a man like you."

" Jun.. " he groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose, shaking his head

She laughed loudly and patted his back.

" next time you're in town I owe you a drink and you owe me a story. I'll let you handle this. I gotta get back to the station." She turned and left, waving at him playfully.

Iroh dialed Zuko's phone.

" uncle? What do you got"

" I got an address. 420 State Street. You won't miss this house"

The address sounded familiar, but he couldn't put his finger on why.

He flipped the switch on the siren, glancing at Katara.

" so, Jun?" She asked

" she's a friend. Long time friend. She graduated the academy before I joined, but she would always come talk to me when I was sitting with Iroh. She kinda sparked my love for solving crime"

" how inspiring. I'll have to thank her for that. If you hadn't joined the bureau you would've never met me"

" perhaps. " he agreed. He knew exactly what he would be doing if it wasn't an Agent. He shivered at the thought.

The cars halted to a stop in front of the address that Iroh had given him. Sokka got out of the car first, knocking on the door

" BSSB, Open up."

No response

He repeated his statement once more, shining a flashlight in the window, noticing that the lights were out.

" move over. " Zuko motioned to Sokka.

Sokka obeyed

Zuko then kicked the door in and the others piled in after him, taking their respective positions, ready to clear every room.

Katara headed up to a door at the top of the stairs. She squinted a bit. It was the only room that wasn't clear yet. She let out a soft grunt as she kicked open the door with her foot, heading into the final room. She held the gun up, cautiously moving around incase their suspect was around their corner and threatening to set fire to the house.

Katara saw a pool of blood and a bit of red fabric. She slowly walked over, then nudged the corpse with her foot gently in case the man was alive and lashed out at her.

" hello?" She said softly. There was no response. The amount of blood that was pooling from the man should've been enough to confirm he was dead, but humans were amazing creatures and sometimes pushed the limits.

" he's dead. " she said bluntly, looking up at Suki who had joined her side moments later

" you're sure?"

" feel his pulse for yourself, there's nothing. Plus he lost too much blood.."

" he looks like he was executed." Aang murmured from his spot. He had entered the room a little bit after Suki had, but had stayed at the doorway in order to not cause too much scene contamination.

Zuko stared at the corpse in front of him. " his name is Zhao." He said simply

" how do you know that?" Sokka asked

" cause I'm from here. He was an acquaintance of my father's. I didn't know him much, i only saw him every now and again." He said softly, wiping his mouth with the back of his jacket sleeve.

" you seem kind of okay with this.."

" I should've known. " he admitted. His eyes caught sight of a compacted, sleek black knife. He knew immediately what this was and who had killed Zhao. Zuko gritted his teeth a bit

" the coroner is here" Toph opened the door, glancing at Zuko.

He stood up and nodded " let them in and call the Crime Scene Unit. I'm gonna go back to the station. Keep your phones on you and don't go anywhere alone" he left the house and went around to the side, leaning against the side

Toph thought this was a weird request, but didn't question him.

Zuko fishes his phone out of his pocket and dialled Iroh's number frantically. " come on, please pick up." He grumbled over and over again until Iroh finally picked up.

" nephew? What's wrong."

" it's Zhao. I should've known that.. he was always so off every time I saw him. He always had a thing for setting dad's crimes on fire to hide it. I'm so stupid" he choked out

" Calm down. Deep breath. Where is he now?"

" Hes dead. He was killed, disposed of.. "

Iroh was silent as he began to stroke his beard in thought." is it who we think it is?"

" definitely. I think they know now that I'm not dead. They made my life a living hell, Iroh." He said shakily.

" get everyone back to the station. We can't do anything about it yet. It's only speculation, you know we don't have any-"

" I took the knife from the scene"

" Zuko." Iroh chided, sighing deeply. " why?"

" you know why. I don't want any of them involved in this. "

Zuko didn't bother listening to Iroh's rebuttal. He didn't care in the moment. He was going to get everyone back to the station and then he was going to go home and move on with his life. Maybe he was going crazy. Maybe they didn't know he was alive. He hoped that was the case, but deep down he knew he was dead wrong.

Zuko entered the house once more, stepping passed the investigators as he approached Katara and Suki who were standing around and looking around the scene." Hey, where are the others?" He asked the two women.

" Sokka is filing the report. The murder weapon was a knife, a special kind of knife though" Katara said softly.

Zuko knew exactly what type of knife it was. It felt like it was burning a hole in his pocket from the weight of it. He was doing a bad thing, but he just couldn't get them involved in this, it was too dangerous.

" Aang and Toph?"

" I just sent them off to the cars." Katara blurted, staring at Zuko. " what's wrong? Why are you rushing us out of the scene?"

" The case is closed. He's the arsonist. His reign of terror is over, which means we need to get out of Caldera Police Department's hair."

" Theres someone else that is involved though, it goes dee-"

" No, Katara. We shouldn't stay longer. We did our job, come on"

" no, we didn't. What has gotten into you, Zuko? We haven't done nearly enough. It was our job to catch the bad guy, but clearly someone else knows something and disposed of him for a reason. We need to know why."

" Do you trust me, Katara?" Zuko sighed, placing his hands on her forearms.

" You already know that answer." She looks into his eyes knowingly.

" Then please trust me when I say that it is way out of our capabilities.."

" Technically, it isn't" Suki blurted.

" Wh-" Katara stammered out.

" Don't mind me, just standing here and listen to you two talking about something I have no knowledge of. By the way, its very flirty and very sexy. Foreplay must be great for you two." Suki smirked

Katara and Zuko froze

" WE ARE NOT"

" SUKI WHAT THE HELL"

Suki placed a hand on her chest, feigning innocence. " oh so that isn't anything? Huh? Nothing is going on between you two? "

" Suki don't-"

" You're lucky that I saw you Instead of your brother. If Sokka saw you two on that couch cuddling he, for sure would've hit Zuko for being that cosy.. there was like no space between you two."

" that wasn't on purpose" Katara blushed.

" yeah, we just fell asleep watching a movie. It wasn't anything "

" Well, like Zuko said, we need to go." Katara glared at Suki, grabbing her arm and pulling her out of the room. She walked to the car and got in. As soon as everyone was accounted for, Zuko was on his way back to the station.

Zuko had entered the bathroom of the Caldera police station, inhaling deeply. Zhao.. he couldn't believe that he was back. As soon as he stepped in and turned on the light he headed to the sink, splashing cold water on his face. He straightened and looked into the mirror at his own reflection, but paused. In scarlet red letters was a message. He knew who wrote the message. "No.." He whispered. Oh Spirits. Not them.

" you want to play, Zuzu, we accept your challenge. I made my move, ill be waiting for your counterattack, don't forget that I've always been five steps ahead of you, you were never even a contender in this game. Don't be a coward. Time for your move."

Azula and Ozai had found out Zuko was alive and they were plotting against him. " Azula always lies...Azula always lies." Zuko began to chant as he grabbed the ends of his hair, panicking slightly. He had to keep this a secret, if he involved anyone in his family drama he was afraid that they would be killed immediately for attempting to interfere. He refused to let Katara, Toph, Sokka, Aang, Suki or even Iroh get hurt. he would not let Azula or Ozai get his hands on them. He knew all too well they were about to make Zuko's life a living hell.


	7. You Carry a Pistol in Your Garter?

" Suki I don't know what to wear" she complained to her companion

Suki chuckled a bit " come on I know you got something in your closet." She shoved Katara aside gently and began to sift through her closet, throwing out contenders

Toph sat on Katara's bed, yawning boredly

" why am I here?"

" cause we need you to distract Sokka"

" how am I gonna?"

Katara waved three tickets in front of her face

" here."

" sounds like some paper."

" yeah, they're-" she looked down at Toph and sighed " wrestling tickets. You take Sokka and distract him "

" the third one is for...?"

" Aang, maybe?" Katara suggested

" so you want us to take your brother to a wrestling match?"

" please, Toph?"

" Okay, fine. I'll do it, but why do you need me to do it?"

Katara squealed and hugged Toph, tackling her to the bed

" I still need an answer, you know?"

" Right, sorry. You like wrestling and so does he.. so.. yeah.."

" And why does Aang need to go too?"

" To keep up the act" Suki replied

" So you can't do that?" She asks

" No, I could but I want to make sure Katara looks delicious.." Suki teased, poking Katara in the ribs as she tossed a dress at her.

The dress landed on Toph's head instead, but she made no movement to take it off. Not like it was impairing anything for her anyways.

Katara snatched the dress up and looked at Suki with an " are you shitting me" look.

" Put it on!" Suki pointed at Katara

" Now?"

" Yeah, you got a few hours until Zuko is here, and we need to make sure you look good."

" Do I need THAT much help?"

" Well, you don't need help at all, you're totally hot, but you've been so stressed since that time I caught you and Zuko cuddling on the sofa so I plan on helping you get fucked tonight"

" SUKI!" She screeched.

" What, you need a good fucking, it'll do you good"

" Wait is that why you're always so.." She wrinkled her nose then gagged " GROSS SUKI! Please tell me you didn't do it on the sofa!"

" Why do you think I was cleaning it when you came back last week"

" I hate you so much, right now. You better have disinfected it."

" I washed it three times, just for you. Now get going before I put the dress on you myself"

" Are you enjoying yourself?"

" Definitely. Go." She pointed once more.

Katara sighed in annoyance, but stripped to her bra and panties

" okay, I am going to stop you RIGHT there" Suki shakes her head, motioning to Katara's panties that had lilac colored unicorns on them

" What!"

" Please tell me you're not going to wear those... you look like a child"

" No Im not wearing them! They were the only clean ones this morning. The ones I'm gonna wear are in the dryer, damn Suki leave me and my underwear choices alone"

" I'm just saying. I mean they're adorable, but totally not" she lowered her voice, smirking as she grabs Katara by the waist, whispering seductively " Fuck me, material, love"

Katara burst out laughing and swatted at Suki.

" Off, I can't get dressed if you're hanging on me"

" But your unicorn panties are so cute" she joked.

Katara snorted, then nudged Suki off of her, sliding the dress on. She then turned to look in the mirror at herself, groaning a bit. The dress was medium length and midnight blue. It was something she had bought to impress an ex boyfriend years ago, but she only wore it once. It hugged her curves perfectly and made her cleavage stick out a little more than Katara was used to. She sighed again, then turned back to where Suki and Toph were.

" Okay, you can be totally honest, I've not worn this since I was in college"

" Are you joking me right now? You look so hot"

" Sparky will totally wanna fuck you " Toph chimed in

" Stop doing that, Toph"

" It's true. He already does when he sees you in your little skirts and tight blouses" Toph giggles

" How do you-"

" Aang tells me what you're wearing every day. Zuko's heart beats so fast when you're in the room. Its disgusting"

" Well" Katara splutters a bit, tugging on the edge of her dress

" Stop fiddling with it" Suki glared at Katara playfully

" I can't help it, my boobs.. are.. like out"

" good. Its hot, but not trashy"

Katara groans a bit " you really think so?"

Suki nodded. " totally.

Katara walked out of the shower with a towel wrapped around her waist

" Suki, do you think these are hot enough?" She asks, holding up a lacy midnight blue lingerie set

Suki giggled and nodded a bit " definitely. he won't be able to breathe one he sees you"

Katara blushed, then walked back into her bedroom to get dressed. Once she slid on her lingerie set, she slid the safety on her pistol, then nudged it into her garter just in case something bad happened during their dinner. She sighed and slid on the dress. Suki then motioned for Katara to sit and she obeyed

" What are you?"

Suki held up an eyeshadow palette and an eyeliner pencil " sit still."

Katara obeyed once again, staying still and listening to every instruction Suki had given her

" What color lipstick?"

Katara opened her eyes, staring at Suki " just go with a nude, no need to pull out the big guns yet" she joked

Suki laughed at her response, then nodded and helped with the finishing touches of her makeup.

Toph opened the bedroom door, glancing in the direction of Katara's vanity. " Snoozles and Twinkletoes just walked in. I'm gonna go, have fun getting dick tonight, Katara" Toph laughed crudely

Katara made a face, but ignored her the best she could.

Toph closed the door, then left the apartment with Aang and Sokka in tow.

Katara was nervous to say the least. She inhaled deeply, glancing at Suki nervously " what if he doesn't show up?"

" He will"

But what if he does-"

" Oh my god, Katara you have been second guessing this for twenty minutes now. relax. you like him don't you?"

Katara nods.

" Good, then there isn't anything to be concerned about, you like each other.. and it'll go well for you, I know it"

"Thank you for helping me, Suki"

" It was my pleasure, seriously. It's kind of nice having a girl around" Suki laughed

Katara smiled, then slid on her heels.

Suki nearly shoved Katara out of the apartment as soon as she heard the knock on the door

' Oh Spirits, oh great Tui and La.. he's here!" She Began to panic- whisper to Suki

" take your ass outside. Now" Suki points to the door once more

Katara inhaled deeply, then scampered to the door, opening it to reveal Zuko in a pair of black, form fitting trousers and a button up scarlet dress shirt.

Zuko's eyes widened as soon as he saw her, Agni, he felt like he was about to choke on air.

" Uh.. I got you these" he said awkwardly, pushing the bouquet of flowers into Katara's hands.

Katara blushed, turning around " oh.. uh-" she giggled awkwardly, then motioned to the apartment " I'll be right back, I'm gonna go and put these in some water"

Zuko nodded, still speechless as he watched her walk away. He groaned slightly as he got a perfect view of her ass. She was perfect

Katara returned a moment later, smiling. Zuko held his arm out for her and she took it gratefully " Thank you" she smiled

Zuko blushed and cleared his throat. " you're welcome. Ready?"

" "M starving" she admitted.

Zuko led Katara to his car, opening the car door for her

Katara bit her lip, looking at him. He had totally taken his car to the car wash and it looked sexier than ever. She groaned mentally, then got In her seat, looking back at Zuko as he closed the door for her, then jogged to his side, got in and started the car. Zuko turned to look at Katara as he buckled his seatbelt " you look pretty"

Katara smiled shyly, giggling " thanks"

Zuko drove to the restaurant, focussing on keeping his eyes off of her, he would have felt like an absolute pervert if he continued to stare. She was so beautiful though, how could he not want to appreciate this goddess beside him.

Zuko led Katara to the seat, smiling shyly " here" he pulled it out for her. He was trying to be a perfect gentleman.

" Thank you, Zuko" she sat down in the chair, and Zuko pushed it in

" Of course." He grinned, then took his own seat as he looked at her. Spirits.. his heart felt like it was about to jump out of his chest.

" You look really pretty" Zuko mentally punched himself In the face ' idiot, you told her that already.'

Katara blushed, then looked at him with a shy smile " you look really handsome, too."

He blushed back, then chuckled " I hope you like wine, I ordered some for us before I picked you up.." He looked into her eyes

Katara smiled at him, then looked at the waiter as soon as their glasses had been filled with wine " thank you" she grinned, taking a small sip

Zuko was officially enamored with her.

" So, you said you were gonna tell me about your life?"

Zuko chuckled, taking his own sip of wine. " what do you want to know?"

" Whatever you're willing to tell me" Katara shakes her head, looking into his eyes

Zuko flushed once more, then looked at her " alright. so I'm Zuko, an Aries-" he began

Katara began to snort with laughter " oh, dating profile now?"

He flashed her a grin, then shakes his head " no, I'm joking. So uh.. I have a little sister, she's your age. Her name is Azula"

" Where is she?"

Zuko began to sweat out of fear. " with my father, I assume."

" In Caldera?"

" yes. " he confirmed

" Your mother?"

" dead."

Katara winced a bit. " I'm sorry. Mine is too"

" That's awful, I'm really sorry Katara."

" yeah." She said softly

Zuko took another drink of wine, then looked at her once more after he swallowed. " so, you?"

" It's me and Sokka. Our dad is away a lot, he works for the military" she smiled a bit " we have our Gran-Gran though too. She's a badass. A retired surgeon, she would love you"

Zuko blinked at her " really?"

Katara nodded. " she would. You're the type of guy she always hoped I would end up with."

Zuko blushed and opened his mouth to reply, but was stopped by the waiter returning with their plates of pasta.

After they had their fill of pasta, they decided to share a slice of cake. Zuko opened his hands to her, allowing her to take the first bite. Katara picked her fork up, stabbing the cake and taking a bite. She nearly moaned at the taste. She glanced at Zuko with wide eyes, then gave him a thumbs up. This had her seall of approval.

" hold on, Katara you got some uh-" he motioned to her lip

" what?"

Zuko leaned in, brushing his thumb over her bottom lip, collecting a bit of the whipped cream off of it. He continued to stare into her eyes, not daring to move.

Katara slowly opened her mouth, sucking on the pad of his thumb, giving him a mischievous look.

Zuko almost came In his pants at the sight of her pink tongue and perfectly painted lips on his pale skin " Agni, Katara what are you doing to me?" He whispered out to here

Katara led Zuko out of the restaurant by his hand, smiling softly

" What are you planning?" Zuko asked curiously

Katara then tilted her head, looking back at Zuko. She inhaled, thinking to herself for a minute ' come on Katara, don't you dare pussy out on this.. just look at him'. She then grabbed Zuko by his shirt, smashing her lips against his roughly

Zuko groaned In surprise, snaking his arms around her waist as he slid his tongue into her parted mouth, continuing to accept her advances.

Zuko slowly pushed Katara against the hood of his car, smirking as he kissed her earlobe, murmuring softly against the skin " if you're uncomfortable tell me and I'll stop."

" you better not stop." She shakes her head, closing her eyes tightly.

Zuko continued to kiss down her neck, sucking on a spot that made her toes curl and her panties drench

" oh.." she gasped out

Zuko pulled away from Katara, sliding a hand down her thigh, panting against her neck " you carry a pistol in your garter?" He asked, chuckling in amusement

" of course. What kind of agent would I be if I don't?" Katara teases, pulling Zuko back down into a rough kiss.

" you're a fine agent, regardless"

" trying to get in my pants?"

" is it working?" Zuko grinned, latching his lips to her neck once more as he palmed her ass, tugging the material of her dress up once more. He then let go of her, grabbing onto her lacy midnight blue panties and tore them off of her in a single tearing motion.

" you know, I liked those" Katara protests

" I like them better off"

" have you been googling pick up lines?"

" only all day. I couldn't stop thinking about you" he admits, dropping to his knees and kissing up her thighs slowly. Katara's head fell back slightly as she let out a breathy moan.

Zuko began to lick and kiss up her thighs, parting between her knees with a wicked grin

" so pretty" he whispered playfully, blowing air on her clit.

Katara let out another shaky moan as her hands found themselves in his hair as she tugged roughly on it, gasping for breath as soon as Zuko's tongue slid across her, gathering up the wetness

" Z-Zuko.."

" shh." He mumbled, nuzzling her clit with his nose as he began to finger her, sucking on her clit at the same time

" are you going to fuck me on the hood of your car, or are we gonna go in it? I can't wait much longer" Katara panted, looking down at Zuko.

" dunno. Was planning on taking you here and then in my car. What do you think?"

Katara moaned at that.

Zuko then lifted her slightly, but stopped when she felt her small hand wrap around his wrist. She shakes her head a bit, then began to unzip his trousers

" Handsy, huh?"

" Shut up or I will stop right this second"

" I do love myself a woman in control" he grinned and looked at her.

She then slid her hand into his boxers, stroking him gently.

Katara's hand began to pump at the shaft of Zuko's dick slowly.

Zuko groaned, burying his face in her shoulder. He began to kiss the skin, sighing and nuzzling into her more

" I'm not a patient man, Katara"

" I know" she giggled, spreading her legs once more, cocking her eyebrow at Zuko

Zuko growled in an animalistic manor, thrusting into her roughly

Katara moaned, biting onto his shoulder in response as the pair began to rock their hips together.

" round two?" Katara teased, raising her head to kiss Zuko deeply after a moment.

Zuko chuckled, then carried her to the drivers door of his Camaro. He shoved the door open, then set her down and lowered the seat. Katara let out a loud giggle, tugging him down on top of her, kissing at his throat and jugular. She licked up the skin, then nipped a bit

" ride me" Zuko demanded

Katara looked at him, lifting her head a bit.

He looked into her eyes and bit his lip a bit.

Katara couldn't take it anymore. She grabbed his face and kissed him roughly once more, shifting their positions. She lowered herself onto his dick, letting out a shaky moan

Zuko gripped onto her hips, gently squeezing them.

The pair pulled away from each other, panting and laughing.

" oh my god, we steamed up your car" Katara whispered

Zuko laughed, then nudged her a bit, sitting upward which made Katara moan since he was still inside of her

" sorry. I'm gonna.." he motioned awkwardly to the air conditioning

" oh! Right.. I.. uh.. yeah" Katara blushes and looked at him " I really hope you didn't just want to fuck me and be done with it-"

" no.. spirits, no Katara.. I mean.. I wasn't expecting it to happen right now, and especially not on and inside my car, which is new and really Hot- by the way.." he began to ramble

Katara silences him with a gentle kiss to his lips

" you're adorable, but if you don't shut up I'm gonna have to make you"

" is that a threat, moonflower?" He grinned

Katara raised her eyebrows at the pet name, but got closer, whispering in his ear " no, that's a promise, Zuko."

He shuddered a bit at her warm breath.

Zuko smiled as he walked with Katara hand in hand back to her apartment

" Thank you for tonight. The food was really good, and the sex was even better" Katara teased

Zuko smirked, rubbing the back of her hand with his thumb " thank you for agreeing to go with me, and thank you for allowing me to show you a wonderful time"

Katara giggled, stranding up on her toes slightly, kissing him lightly on the lips

Zuko smiles against her lips, then pulled away after a moment, passing her a pair of heels " don't forget these"

" thanks. I'll see you at work tomorrow?"

" I'll be the one carrying two cups of coffee and bagels" Zuko teased

Katara put her key in the door, turning away to open it. She then sighed, biting her lip

" Zuko?"

He turned to face her again, tilting his head in confusion like a lost puppy " yeah?"

" Would you like to come in?"

Zuko grinned then strides over to her, picking her up by the waist. Katara giggled, wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist

" I assume that means yes?" She asked softly

Zuko pushed open the door and silenced her with a lustful kiss.


	8. Hooked Lie-n and Sinker

Katara woke up in the early hours. She turned over, yawning a bit as she noticed that Zuko was still asleep and snoring happily. She giggled, kissing his forehead before she wiggled out of bed. She was trying her hardest to keep quiet so she didn't disturb him.

She slid on a clean pair of shorts and a t-shirt then left the apartment. She knew Sokka still wouldn't be home. He had been spending a lot more time at Suki's apartment rather than here, not that she was complaining. Sokka deserved to be happy with Suki.

Zuko was panicking. He woke up to an empty bed. 'Did I offend her?' He thought, feeling as if she regretted last night. As soon as Zuko finished his mini freak out, Katara walked back in with a small smile on her face.

" Good morning. I went to get us breakfast. " she leaned over, kissing Zuko lightly.

He chuckled a bit, blinking the sleep from his eyes. " this is a good way to wake up" he admitted, then sighed softly

Katara smiled, handing him a bag and a coffee.

" Hope you didn't think I abandoned you"

" Thought my snoring was too much?"

She laughed. " it was pretty bad, but I can put up with it." She grinned

" No calls yet?"

Katara raised her eyebrow then snorted. " Zuko, it's like five am. You eat, then you should go home and clean up. I'm pretty sure you don't wanna go in the office like that" she points to his naked chest playfully

He rolled his eyes, then kissed her palm, watching as she walked off to get ready for work.

After Zuko pulled into the parking lot he shoved his hands in his pockets and headed into the office, checking his gun holster and then his badge as he went in through the security. He took another deep breath as he made his way towards the office and sat down

Iroh stepped up beside Zuko with two cups of tea. He placed his hand on his shoulder, then chuckled

" You seem quite happy, Nephew" he grins

Zuko smiled. " am I that obvious?"

"You're smiling for once."

Zuko's eyes widened " hey hold on.."

"Well, you look very happy. It's a good look on you, you know"

" Thank you, Uncle" Zuko bowed his head as he took a drink from his cup of tea.

Zuko checked his phone, his eyes widened in fear as he read the message. It was an unknown number but he knew who it was. Azula

' Tick tock. Hope you're enjoying out little game. Soon time will run out and you'll get to see the endgame'

Zuko swallowed hard, taking a deep breath as he pocketed his phone. He would not let Azula get the best of him.

Katara looked into Zuko's eyes, placing her hand on top of his. " tell me not to worry and that everything is okay" she begged

Zuko swallowed hard, staring at her. Gods, he wishes he would tell her that it was okay. He swallowed another lump in his throat as he nodded

" don't worry, Katara. Everything is fine. I promise you this" he pulled her into a tight hug, placing his lips on the top of her head as he let out a shaky breath.

Katara wrapped her arms around him tightly, sighing as she nuzzled into his chest a bit.

" I trust you. if it is something important you promise to tell me, right?

" Right." He smiled and let go of her after a minute.

Katara sat down at the table, staring a bit

" Alright, so today our case is a little more light.." She cringed, clicking onto the pictures of the slideshow.

" That is horrible, not light" Sokka groaned

Katara rolled her eyes. " compared to some of the others, a con artist is at least a little more sentient than full on mass murderers"

Katara clicked to the next slide, then groaned. " I lied. I forgot there was a bit of uh.. murder too."

Suki stared at the pictures.

Sokka furrowed his brows, his sapphire eyes widened as he stared at each and every crime scene. " have you seen these?"

" Yeah, I looked at them earlier.."

" 'Tara, they look like you. They're all young women with dark hair and blue eyes"

Katara swallowed, then looked at Sokka. " I know. "

" So what else did he do to these women?" Aang asked suddenly, feeling uncomfortable at the pictures of each women.

" According to their bank accounts here." She flipped to the next slide, " our suspect cleaned them out. A lot of money. they must want something with it. perhaps purchasing something big scale?"

" Agents?" The door opened and a man was standing in the corner of the room, looking at the group.

The team turned

" Yes?"

"There is a kid out front, saying he saw something suspicious last night. And there was another body found"

" Toph and Kat take the interrogation, Aang and Suki take the crime scene"

" Got it" Aang and Suki headed off to the next crime scene as soon as Iroh had gotten the address from the officers.

Katara and Toph walked into the interrogation room. The pair sat down and smiled at the young boy.

" Hello, Lee. I'm Agent Emiuk" Katara smiled, then motioned to Toph " this is Agent Beifong. We heard that you may have seen a person of interest" she said sweetly, not wanting to terrify the boy.

" Sugar Queen, you can't talk to him like that! He will never give us what we want. Were feds"

Toph, he is a child. it's not like he's under arrest. He came here willingly."

" What if he's an accomplice?"

" TOPH! He Is only twelve years old. He is not-"

" I'm not-"

" Katara, do you think someone would willingly come in here with information?"

" Yes! Because there are good people in this world!

" Are you two done..."

" shush, The adults are talking. "Toph glared at the child, placing a finger on her lips.

" Toph, he is a child, you can t be mean to him" Katara reminded him

Lee looked scared shitless. Perhaps Toph was not a good person to bring into the interrogation room, but she was the only one who knew when someone was lying.

" Tell me everything you saw, Lee" Katara gave a small smile, trying to convince Lee to tell them what he knew

" I just saw a man" Lee admitted, still nervous. He was clearly very intimidated by Toph.

" Can you give me a description of the man?" Katara asks softly, tapping her pen against the notebook in front of her.

" He was really tall. Dark hair. Had sharp shiny things." Lee's lip trembled as he remembered the figure pass him in the hallway.

" A knife?"

Lee shakes his head. " no. like.. a type of sword I guess? There were two of them?

Katara had a pit in her stomach. This was too similar to a man she knew. She felt sick

" Toph, I need a break. I'm gonna go get a drink of water and then I'll be back. I'm gonna make Agent Simmons come in to assist until I get back"

Toph nods and waves her away dismissively.

Katara walked out of the room, leaving Toph in with another agent so that she wouldn't terrify the poor kid. Toph had a little bit of a hard time understanding that children were more delicate than adults when it came to questioning. her phone began to ring and she picked it up biting her lip. an unknown number flashed on the screen.

" Hello?"

" Katara" a voice answered from the other line.

Every hair on Katara's body rose in shock and anger.

" Jet" she whispered, gritting her teeth, shaking her head. She was about to hang up when she heard him speak again

" No no, wait a second.. please, don't hang up on me"

" How do you know I'm about to do just that?" She asks sarcastically.

" I always know, Kat."

" Only my friends call me Kat. You can call me Katara because I most certainly am NOT your friend, Jet. What the fuck do you want and how did you get my number? This is a government number anyways.

" I've been keeping tabs on you, Katara. I missed you.."

" Ew. We broke up years ago. I'm going to have you arrested for stalking and you're getting a restraining order"

" Ka-"

" I'm hanging up right now and you're blocked. Permanently. "

" I know about it, Katara"

She bristled once again, flinching

"Meet me. We can have a cup of coffee and talk?"

" no. I'm not going to go in public with you. I'm not letting you poison my cup of coffee either. You can meet me back at our old spot. The treehouse that we found Miyuki in."

" I'll meet you in twenty?"

" An hour. I need to have time to travel there"

" Okay. I missed you Katara"

" Yeah, well go jump off a bridge"

Jet chuckled fondly, then hung up

" I know who our suspect it" Katara pocketed her phone as she entered the briefing room again

Aang looked at her in confusion. " how did you know who it was?"

" Because he contacted me. Take a look at those pictures again" she pulled the pictures out, pointing to every single one of them. " remember when Sokka said they looked like me? It was because they were supposed to be like me. They WERE me in his mind and as soon as they didn't do what he wanted to he killed them. In his mind he wanted to have me-"

Toph then interrupted Katara, sitting forward as her milky eyes widened. " so this dude is super obsessed with you?"

" you're the endgame?" Zuko asked, placing his hand on Katara's wrist lightly, trying to soothe her.

" I'm his endgame. He wants the real me. I'll give him the real me"

" DON'T YOU DARE SUGGEST GOING INTO HIS CREEPY HAY CHEWING CLUTCHES." Sokka screamed angrily, kicking the chair over as he stood up, staring down at his younger sister.

" Sokka, shush." She shakes her head a bit. " I'm a big girl. I can get him to let his guard down and then once I have him close enough I can cuff him. If anyone else goes in my place he might spiral out of control"

" This sins a good idea" Aang shakes his head.

" It's the only thing that will work. I don't think we want to have another person die, murderer or not.

" I think we can trust Katara to make her own decisions. She will always have us for backup" Iroh shakes his head, sipping his tea

" You're on her side?" Sokka glared.

Iroh sighed. " Katara is a formidable agent, and she can handle herself.

Katara headed to the old treehouse, swallowing nervously. It felt like forever since she was a teenage girl and happily in love with what she thought was the perfect man. Jet was no perfect man, he was a monster. She let a tear slide down her cheek, but furiously wiped at it. She picked up her coms, clearing her throat. " I'm in position. Stay far away unless I say otherwise. "

Zuko heard the call on the radio, pinching his nose slightly. He hated letting her do this alone, but knew she had to. It was the best option for the best outcome. " Copy. Be careful. "

" Always am"

" Tell me not to worry?" Zuko said, repeating the same words Katara had said to him earlier in that day.

" Don't worry. I have everything completely under control"

Zuko grinned. " Copy, Agent. We will be awaiting your call."

Katara placed the com on the seat of her car, then got out. She pocketed her phone and felt her chest for the thick material of her bulletproof vest to make sure it was in place. It was. She went on her trek towards the treehouse, trying to let her mind stay clear so she could focus on what she needed to do.

" Well. Hello beautiful" Jet grinned, staring at Katara appreciatively as he reached to play with the ends of her hair

Katara gritted her teeth, swatting at his hands in annoyance.

" I'm not gonna be ogled all day am I?"

Jet chuckled, grabbing her wrists and pushing her back a bit

"let. go."

" Listen to me first."

" NO! last time I saw you was when I left the hospital. "

Jet sighed a bit.

" Why did you do it?"

what are you talking about Katara?"

" Are you kidding me? You're acting like you don't know? Do you think I'm an idiot!" She screeched, pointing at him, poking his sternum with her fingers repeatedly " a con man. Multiple murders in this area?" Katara then tugged her wrists away from Jet angrily

" Katara please.."

" NO." She screeched, shoving him back slightly, shaking slightly. " Jet you really fucked up back then."

" I lost her too" Jet said shakily, looking at Katara

" dont do that. Don't say that like you actually wanted her. You're the one who killed her, Jet."

" I was drunk, and it was an accident..

" so what? You've evolved in using your hook swords and conning all of these young women who look like me only because you regret me miscarrying the baby that none of us wanted?"

He then shoved her back against the wall angrily. Katara hit the wall with a loud bang, feeling the pain erupt in her back. " shut your mouth, Katara"

" make me" she snapped, shaking her head. " you've lost it, Jet. You didn't have a reason to do this. I tried to play dumb the whole time I've been on this case, but that little boy told me he saw you leaving Akna's house. You cut her stomach.. she bled out."

" she looked like you, Katara" Jet admits, looking at her with sad brown eyes.

" I know." She said solemnly. " Sokka made the connection.

" he's working with you too?"

Katara didn't reply to that. " we have a team. We're good at what we do. I'm sure you know that by now since I've caught onto your little act."

" it isn't an act. "

" why?"

" why what?" He asked

" you know what I'm talking about. Why did you hurt all of those women when you really wanted to hurt me?"

Jet loud out a loud roar of anger, then turned around again, punching her in the face.

Katara yelped, grabbing his wrist and breaking his bones in three different places, making sure to lower him to the ground.

Katara then pinned Jet to the ground, shaking her head

" you shouldn't have tried that, Jet. You're lucky I caught you. I should've shot you right through the stomach, or maybe.. stabbed you through the stomach." She snarled

Jet hung his head. " Katara, I'm so sorry for all I've done to you."

" you're a psychopath. " she interrupted Jet, grabbing his wrist and turning him around.

" you're under arrest." She pulled the handcuffs out of the holder on her belt, cuffing him firmly.

Jet stayed silent.

Katara grabbed her phone, keeping one knee placed on the small of his back as she informed the team where she was.

Suki slowly approached Katara, placing her hand on her shoulder

" hey, are you okay?" She asked

Katara blinked away her tears as she looked at Suki. She nodded slowly. It had been a while since she thought about Jet and the unborn baby she had lost. She didn't tell anyone other than him that she was pregnant.

" I'm okay." She said softly. " uh.. just.. he was an ex boyfriend" she said with an awkward smile

" an ex boyfriend? Sheesh.." Suki cringed

" I know. He had an obsession with me, I guess.. and then he began to con all of those women who looked like me so he could take their money.. and.." she swallowed hard, hugging her knees to her chest. " he was probably going to try and take me somewhere " she murmured

" what, like kidnap you?"

" I guess? The way he was acting made it seem as if he wanted to be filthy rich, then take me away from here and control my every move forever" she cringed at the taste in her mouth. It was disgusting to think she had ever been in love with that man

Sokka began to approach them. He wrapped his arms around Katara, kissing her head. " you okay?"

Katara nodded. " Yeah. A little shocked, but he didn't hurt me. I was the one who hurt him"

Sokka laughed a bit. " well after all he did to you back in High School. He deserved it."

" Sokka?"

" yeah, Kat?"

" you know, when you were a freshman in college and I was finishing up my last year of high school.. uh.. I had a miscarriage."

" w-what?"

Katara nods. " I never said anything to anyone other than Jet about it.. uh.. until now."

" I'm gonna kill him."

Katara places her hand on top of his and shakes her head. " don't. It isn't worth it. He's in custody and he's going away for a long time. I'm never gonna let him near me again. You can't do anything to him."

" I can punch him in his smug little face"

" you can, but be the better man and don't?"

" only for you." He chuckled

Katara lifted her head as soon as she heard Zuko's voice. She then jumped up and hugged him tightly, sighing

Zuko buried his face in her thick hair, sighing and hugging her close.

" you're okay?"

" I'm fine. Why is everyone worrying about me?"

" Katara, Sokka told me you had a history with him."

" yeah. I did. Not anymore though"

" he didn't hurt you?"

Katara snorts. " I didn't give him the chance."

She felt her heart clench. He did hurt her, just not physically.


	9. No Need For Petty Ex Business

Sokka placed his arms around Katara again. he was shocked after hearing her confession. She lost her baby when she was young.. suddenly it all made sense to him. Gran-Gran would call him while he was in college and update him on Katara. Katara always shoved it off and told them that it was because she missed Sokka and Hakoda. Sokka believed her, but now that he knew the real reason he knew it was because she lost her unborn child.

" You should go to the apartment and get some rest" Sokka murmured to Katara.

" I'm waiting to be checked out. "

" He didn't hurt you though, that's what you said"

" I know, I'm not a doctor " she said sourly. She was spaced out and it was starting to freak Sokka out.

" Katara, you need to go home. Get a shower, sleep. You've had enough for today"

" I will" she muttered, hugging her brother once more

" I'm so sorry that I never realized the real reason you were depressed"

Katara froze in his arms. She lifted her head up slightly to stare at him. " please, I don't want to talk about this right now"

" Okay" Sokka agreed. " you do need to talk about it though. You went through a lot. i won't force you to tell me at all, but please talk to someone about it"

She shrugged her shoulders a bit, then nudged her older brother off of her. She stood up and cleared her throat. " you know, I think I'm good. I don't need to get checked out by the paramedics. I'll just go home."

Sokka nods, watching her as she made her way back to her car. He felt heartbroken for her. She was usually so hopeful and strong, but something about this had really broken her spirit.

Zuko walked over to Sokka, concern flashing in his amber eyes. " is she okay?"

Sokka sighed. " she will be. Give her time is all. It's not my business to tell you what she went through. I'll leave it at that. She'll tell you if she wants to"

" I really care for her, you know"

" I know. I've seen the way you look at each other, and Suki isn't the most subtle person in the world when it comes to other things."

Zuko blushed a bit, clearing his throat. " well, thank you. I'm going to finish up here and head to the office, is Katara going to come back today?"

" I don't think she should. She's kind of out of it anyways. Let her have some time alone. She'll reach out when she is ready"

Zuko nods and walks back to his car, calling for Toph and Aang to come with him back to the office.

Zuko, Toph, Aang, Sokka and Suki headed back to the office to finish up their paperwork. Sokka explained to everyone that Katara needed some time and she wouldn't come back to the office today. The team understood that and didn't push at all.

Katara closed her eyes as she placed her head against the steering wheel of her car. It was all too much for her to deal with. Too many people fussing over her, too much of everything. She inhaled and exhaled slowly, trying to calm herself down but she couldn't stop the wave of hot tears streaming down her cheeks. It had been so long since she thought of Jet and her high school days and now it seemed as if all of her past mistakes were being shoved down her throat. The loss of Katara's unborn baby devastated her of course, but she never intended for it to be brought up again. She was young and thought she was in love, and she was stupid for ever thinking that she knew what it was like at that age.

Katara's eyes widened as she felt her mind wonder. She remembered what it was like being in high school. She was always top of her class, she had been dating Jet since their sophomore year and she thought that he was the love of her life. She was seventeen when she found out she was pregnant. a senior. Jet and Katara both made sure to always use protection, but apparently the condom was faulty. Katara cried for hours in the bathroom and refused to come out. She kept the secret as much as she could. Jet was always angry at her though. He was pleased and wanted everyone to know, but Katara refused to let him tell anyone. Honestly, she didn't know if she wanted to keep the baby or not.

Jet and Katara didn't even get a chance to see their baby on an ultrasound. It was a horrible accident really. Jet had gotten angrier and angrier at her each day. She wanted to keep it silent and she would tell her family when she was ready. Jet hated that. He loved Katara. Maybe a little too much. He began to abuse her for months. Physically, verbally and emotionally. Katara had had enough one day and broke up with them. The pair were arguing at the top of a staircase in Jet's apartment and he had shoved her back. Katara lost her footing and fell down the stairs. She she woke up in the hospital a day later, frantic. She wasn't sure where she was happening until Jet had came in and told he the news. . Jet took it badly. He threatened her and turned on her. He said It was her fault and blamed her for everything. Perhaps if she told her family then maybe it wouldn't have hapened.

After that, Katara was in a dark part of her life. She barely slept or ate unless her Gran-Gran forced her to eat. Sokka was away at college and Hakoda was barely home. He couldn't be home due to his job. He was in the military and overseas, she couldn't make him come home and she refused to allow Sokka to drop out to come and take care of her. Gran-Gran did her best, but she just couldn't watch her granddaughter wither away.

Katara ended up in therapy as soon as she turned eighteen. She learned to cope and took medication for her depression. As she entered college she was able to shove all of those nasty thoughts out of her mind and get on with her life. She eventually weened herself off of the depression medication and drowned herself in determination. She would go to the gym nearly every day.

She finished college top of her class at 22. She graduated with a bachelors of science in Criminology and one in Psychology. She was an overachiever for sure, but it worked out in her favor. Not long after she graduated she decided to apply for the BSSB academy alongside her brother. The pair trained vigorously for two years and did a few jobs on the side. Sokka and Katara worked for other departments within the bureau but had put in an application for the team at the same time as soon as the application was given out. She turned her life around and wanted to keep it that way, but unfortunately that isn't the way life works.

Zuko drove to his house as soon as he was finished with work. He was worried for Katara. He pulled into the garage then closed it behind him. He shoved the keys into the door and opened it.

the atmosphere was different. he felt a chill go down his spine.

" Hello?" He called, locking the door behind him. He reached for the gun on his holster, narrowing his eyes a bit.

No answer. He should've expected that. He was on the edge from Azula's notes. She knew, which meant their father probably knew too.

Zuko began to walk around the house, checking each and every area. nothing.

He headed into his bedroom, nearly jumping out of his skin. Azula, Ty Lee and Mai were sitting on his bed. They looked smug, as if this wasn't a crime in itself.

" What are you three doing in my house?" Zuko snarled, raising his gun slightly

" Ouch it's been three years since you've seen your little sister. Least you could do was acted happy to see me. What about Mai? You're gonna hurt her feelings."

Mai turned her wrist over, examining the cool mental of her knife

" I don't really care about Mai's feelings, and I don't care about you. How did you find me?"

" That oaf, Zhao let it slip that you weren't dead. Of curse, I knew you probably wouldn't be. The Huang family have always been hard to dispose of" Azula grinned.

Zuko rolled his eyes. " get out. Isn't it enough that youre playing a stupid game with me? I do not want to be involved. Leave me alone"

I forgot your Aura was always so dingy" Ty Lee perked up after a minute. " good to see you, Zuko"

" Whatever. Just go"

" No."

"No?"

Azula examined one of her crimson claws. " when dad scarred you, he must've fucked up your hearing too. I said no. need me to spell it? N-O"

"Damnit, Azula. What do you want!"

" Play with me, Zuzu. Humor me."

" Does dad know?"

" That you're alive? No. I haven't Told him yet, but I plan to, unless you play my game"

" fine" he gritted out. " I will play your stupid ass game as long as you promise me something"

" A promise? Thats bold, coming from you" Mai said sourly, raising her head to stare at Zuko.

" No need for petty ex business, Mai." Azula held her hand up to stop Mai.

Zuko groaned, running a hand through his untamed hair. " promise me that you will stop interfering with my work"

" Aw, Zuzu is such an important narc now huh?" She taunted

" Not a narc. I'm an agent."

" wow. You got a fancy badge?" Ty Lee giggled

Zuko pinched his nose.

" Anyways. we don't really care about your job, you know. It's hilarious. The son of Crime Lord Ozai being an agent" she snorts.

" Don't talk about father to me. Last time I saw him he decided to give me a permeant lesson on my face"

" Still touchy about it. Huh?"

" I left that business for a reason. It wasn't who I wanted to be. "

" You never had the stomach for it." Mai corrected.

Zuko bristled again. " get out." He repeated. " right now."

" fine. " Azula mused, pursing her lips. She stood up from the bed, snapping her fingers at Ty Lee who was in her own world. " come on. We'll leave Zuzu. "

Ty Lee and Mai got to their feet. Mai exited the room, bumping Zuko's shoulder as she left.

" Sheesh. Seems Mai still isn't forgiving you."

" I don't need her forgiveness. I broke up with her for a reason"

" What reason?"

" Ask her"

Azula stared at Zuko questioningly for a moment before she finally backed down.

" Goodbye, Zuko. "

" Do not show up here again, or I will kill you" he snapped

Azula laughed and then left with Ty Lee and Mai.

Zuko hissed in annoyance as soon as they left. Now they knew where he lived. He had to be more careful about everything. They could get all of this information with a drop of a hat and if Zuko wasn't careful they could find out about the rest of the team and their residences. Fuck Crime Lord Ozai and fuck Azula. he was so beyond angry he couldn't think straight.

Katara finally calmed herself and drove back to the apartment. Sokka was sitting on the sofa with a box of lo mein resting on his lap.

" Hey" she said softy, locking the door behind her as she entered

" Hey. I ordered you food too. It's in the fridge"

" Thanks" she paused, then looked at him. " thank you for everything that you've done. You're a really good brother and a really good agent. You truly are my best friend" she began to ramble

" Katara what are you-"

" I'm complementing you."

" I know, but why"

" Because it's true. You really are" she grinned.

" Go shower. I'll heat the food up for you."

" Can you put on Grey's Anatomy?"

" I'm on it." Sokka nods, gently pushing her towards the bathroom to shower.

Katara came out of the shower and changed in an old pair of shorts and one of her academy shirts.

" I got you sweet and sour chicken and some lo mein. We'll half it?"

Katara grins. " yeah. Lets half it." She plopped on the sofa and turned on Netflix, clicking on the next episode of Grey's Anatomy. It was a thing they watched together. Bonding time was special to the Emiuk family.


	10. We Both Have Trauma

Katara woke up the next morning in her own bed. She groaned, hiding her face in the blankets for a few minutes, trying to keep the sun out of her eyes. Suddenly she jerks up and gasped " oh shit!" She shouted, fumbling to look for her phone. It was nowhere to be found though. On her intable there was a piece of paper with Sokka's messy scrawl on it

' Iroh is allowing you personal time still. DO. NOT. CALL. I. WILL. NOT. GIVE. YOU. DETAILS.

There's some croissants on the table. Suki brought them over this morning, oh and Zuko is coming around 10. Take care of yourself.

Love, Sokka '

Katara shakes her head and folds the piece of paper in half. She pulled herself out of the bed and stumbled to the kitchen. She jumped when she heard a knock at the door.

" Katara it's Zuko."

" oh!" Katara blinked a bit and walked to the door, opening it to let him in.

" hi" she breathed

" hey" he said softly, placing his hand on her shoulder " are you okay?"

" yeah. I'm okay. Come on in. Did you eat yet?"

" I have. Have you?"

" not yet. I'm still feeling pretty crappy."

" you wanna sit and talk about it?"

Katara smiles. " I'd like that. Want a cup of tea?"

" yeah. Jasmine?"

" yeah. I'll go put the kettle on " she tugged on his wrist gently, letting him in.

Zuko closed the door behind him and smiled as he followed her to the kitchen.

Katara our the kettle on, then grabbed the croissants, heating two of them up. She sat down on one of the barstools and swung her feet back and fourth

" you don't have to say everything you know"

" I want to, Zuko. I kept it a secret for a long time. It's time to talk about it."

" how about I go first then?"

" oh." She blinked at him, popping a piece of croissant in her mouth. She nodded and held her hands in front of her " yeah, be my guest. Anything you want to reveal to me"

Zuko inhales. " well. My father is the one who gave me my scar."

" what?"

He flinched. " my father is not a good man.." he said softly. " he ran a business.. it.. uh.." he stammered, flushing as he noticed Katara giving him her undivided attention. He swallowed hard and then stared into her eyes. " he's a crime boss. We grew up in Caldera.. it's a capital full of crime as you'd seen.. well.. i uh was on a mission. I was a rookie cop back in Caldera and apparently one of my calls was to an area where my father was, and he found out that I was a cop. It was during the summer when a lot of people set bonfires and camped, you know?"

Katara nods again.

" well, we got into a scuffle and I was too chicken to shoot him, but he got the upper hand and shoved my face-" he touched his eye. " he shoved my face in a bonfire that was still going strong, practically melted my face off." He said sadly.

" oh my god." Katara covered her hand with her mouth " Zuko! That's.. that is awful, I can't believe-" she got off of her barstool and walked into his arms, hugging him tightly.

Zuko buried his face against her head, inhaling the scent of her shampoo. " it's okay. I'm over it, Katara."

" he's a monster. I hope he was caught"

" he wasn't caught. He's still out there somewhere"

" why isn't he coming after you?"

" because he thinks I'm dead, probably. Zhao was sent to kill me and he failed, but I assume that Zhao lied to save his ass. Somehow I guess he found out that I was alive and that's why Zhao was dead"

Katara stares at him, her stomach churning. " so, you knew him?"

" yeah. I did."

" do you know who killed him?"

" probably. I have my suspicions." He admits.

Katara pulled away from his arms after staying there in silence. She turned and headed to grab two mugs and filled them up with tea. She handed Zuko his mug and then took a sip of hers.

" are you gonna stay silent or..?" Zuko took the mug, blinking at her

" it's a lot to take in, I'm really sorry.. spirits, that is the worst thing I've ever heard " she said softly

" yeah. He wins shittiest father award. "

" what about your mother? She never stopped him?"

" my mother is dead"

Katara flinched. " I'm sorry. Mine is too."

" he killed her."

Katara's mouth opened wide again.

" my family is really shitty. I know. I have a little sister who's just as crazy as he is, if not worse" he wrinkled his nose

" you do?"

" her name is Azula. She's your age. "

" does she think you're dead too?"

" no. She knows I'm not dead. She texted me a few times."

" what? Zuko! You didn't tell anyone!"

" I can't, Katara. I just put your life in danger by telling you about my family. You don't understand! This is the worst thing that could happen. I don't want you to get hurt! Azula is malicious, and she won't be alone"

" what do you mean?"

" she has lackeys. Mai and Ty Lee. They're equally as dangerous. "

Katara looked at him, then sighed as she placed her head in her hands. " fuck. Well. I can't top that."

Zuko chuckled and sipped his tea a bit. " well, I told you my story, now I believe it's your turn"

" story for a story?"

" yeah. That's how it's gonna work now" Zuko smirked.

" okay." Katara inhales. " when I was in high school, I dated Jet."

Zuko wrinkled his nose in disgust.

" I know. I know. " she frowned. " anyways, I was with him for a few years and.. he ended up being really abusive to me" she murmured. " I found out I was pregnant my senior year of high school and I wanted to keep it a secret, but Jet was just.. I don't know.. I can't really explain what he was like" she sighed. " he had a lot of mood swings, you know? He was so angry one moment and then loving the next.. I thought that he loved me and that it was kind of normal, but I slowly realised it wasn't and I was scared for our child's life.. I was barely showing and I went to his apartment on day to tell him that I wanted to break up. Jet didn't like that and we got into a fight. He-" tears began to pool in her eyes. " he pushed me backwards and I fell down the stairs. I woke up a day later and I found out that I lost the baby"

" Katara..." Zuko swallowed hard. His heart ached for her. He pulled her into his lap gently and kissed her forehead lightly. " I am so sorry that you lost your baby, and I'm so sorry that he hurt you.. "

" we both have a bit of trauma in our lives, huh?" She tried to joke

Zuko smiled at her, although the smile was just for show. He began to wipe the tears from her eyes. " you know, I will never lay a hand on you like that, ever."

" I know, Zuko. You're nothing like him. Complete opposites. " she said softly, leaning into his touch more, placing her hands on top of his as she felt his thumb stroke her cheek.

" tell me not to worry?" Zuko whispered as he watched her.

Katara smiled and looked up at him " dont worry. I promise you I'm okay now. seeing him just kind of... you know?"

" yeah. I understand. Why was he so obsessed with you?"

" I don't know." She admits, placing her palm on his jaw gently. " I think that he never got over me, and.. he kinda didn't have a good home life, so i was one of the stable things in his life and.. " she sniffled a bit

" take your time. You don't have to."

" I know. I want to, Zuko."

" okay. " he nods.

" I think that he began to project all of that agression and hatred to me on people that looked like me.. he apparently stalked me too, at least, that's what he said he was doing. I don't know if I believe him. "

" believe me, Katara. He will never get near you again."

" I know. He's going to jail forever. I'm gonna make sure of that. "

Zuko chuckled and tilted her chin gently, kissing the corner of her mouth lightly.

" you're very strong, Katara. " he whispered

Katara melted into his touch, tilting her head as she kissed him tenderly. " you're strong too, Zuko."

He nuzzled his nose against hers lightly as he closed his eyes, feeling her warm breath against his skin.

" I want to stay like this" she murmured

" me too.."

The pair stayed in a loving embrace for a while, basking in each other's touch. Everything was so personal and so emotional that they knew their connection was even greater than before.

" Zuko?"

" yeah?"

" what's going on at work today?"

" Katara." He sighed and pulled away. " you're not supposed to be thinking abut work"

" I know, but I am.."

" I think they're just training new recruits. Nothing too big. They won't go on a mission without us, you know."

" so you took off too?"

" yeah. I had to make sure my best girl was okay." He chuckled

Katara shakes her head, placing her palm on his chest to feel his heartbeat. " you're driving me crazy."

" you think you don't do that to me?"

Katara's eyes twinkled in amusement.

Earlier this morning, Suki let herself into Katara and Sokka's apartment with a plate of croissants. Sokka walked lazily to the living room, rubbing his neck a bit. He had slept awfully since Katara slept on him all night.

" good morning. I brought sustenance " Suki offered him the plate.

Sokka grinned and grabbed a croissant, biting into it. " ugh. Thank you. This is amazing. Place it on the kitchen table for Katara later"

" how is she doing?"

Sokka sighs. " she's doing as okay as she can be right now. She's still asleep. Iroh's giving us a break from missions until she's ready to come back. Yesterday he told me there were some new recruits that we were gonna train"

Suki hummed and took a bite out of her own croissant. " well, I'm glad she's okay. Is anyone going to come over to hang with her?"

" Zuko offered to. I left a note on the table beside the bed. I had to carry her to bed. She slept on me the whole time"

Suki smiled. " that's cute, honey. Who knew you were so soft for your sister." She teased

Sokka rolls his eyes. " she's my baby sister, of course I'll take care of her even if she's annoying"

Suki snorted a bit " are you coming to work then?"

" yeah. If there's new recruits around today, I assume we're gonna do training instead of actual work"

" yeah. Business- Casual dress. Bring some workout clothes. We still have to go into the office"

" got it." He kissed her cheek and walked into his bedroom to get ready for work.

Sokka walked back out, messing with the sleeves of his navy button-up.

" all ready?"

Sokka nods and walked alongside her. They left the apartment and Sokka the door behind him. They got into Suki's car and quickly drove to work so they could help train the new recruits. They walked into the bureau.

" hey, you're finally here" Aang greets them, holding a mug full of jasmine tea

" yeah, sorry.. I was running a little late this morning, I had to take care of Katara"

" how is she?"

" she seems better. Not ready to come back yet. Suki said we got recruits?"

" yeah. Iroh is with the new recruit that will replace him once he retires"

Suki raised an eyebrow in confusion.

" her name is Asami. She's brilliant "

" as in Asami Sato?"

" yup. Of future industries "

" what is she doing in the bureau?"

" she hacked into our systems and got on the radar. Iroh interviewed her and apparently she was ready to turn her life around and offered her a position, so he's training her right now."

" oh. Can we meet Her?"

" maybe later. We're assigned to the other recruits. "

" names?"

" Mako, Bolin and Korra"

" ah. " Suki nodded and grabbed a file, reading up on their new recruits

" they aren't gonna join our team are they?"

" unless one of us retires no." Aang shakes his head " I just finished a little spar with Mako, Korra and Suki are going up next."

"Oh, " Sokka nods, grabbing another file. " okay. Thank you for the update. How do they seem?"

" pretty good for brand new recruits. They won't be on our team of course, but they seem like they'd work well together"

" guess the director will be the judge of that." Sokka mused

" yeah. " Aang shrugged again and headed back to the office to work on some paperwork. Sokka followed Aang and sat down at his desk, concentrating on reports for their past cases. He was more imbedded in Jet's case than of the others. He was going to make sure that sick fuck was locked up forever. He didn't want Jet to get anywhere near his sister ever again. He didn't even deserve to see daylight.

After Suki finished her session with Korra she headed to the shower

" you did good" she praised Korra

Korra grinned a bit " thank you, Agent Kiyoshi"

" just call me Suki" she shakes her head a bit

" oh. Yeah. Okay" she said awkwardly

" what are your goals, Korra?"

" I want to be on the force"

" yeah, but why?" She laughed, sliding on a clean shirt.

" because I want to make my family proud, you know? My parents did a lot for me, and Agent Iroh was a hero to me"

" well, the way you're going you'll make it in no time. You got a sick punch, by the way" she complemented

" thanks" Korra laughed, fixing her hair.

" and now I'm off to finish some paperwork. " Suki hummed, then left the locker room with Korra following behind.

Bolin sat at a table, staring admiringly at Toph who was sitting in an interrogation room, questioning Jet furiously.

" what are you doing?" Sokka snorted as he walked over

" oh!" Bolin jumped up a bit " I'm watching agent Toph- UH- Beifong interrogate.."

Sokka gritted his teeth as he stared into the window. " yeah. Well that guy is a piece of work. Are you ready for training?"

Bolin got up, accidentally hitting the table and then knocking two chairs over " oh shit I'm so sorry"

Sokka sighed. " just leave it. Come on." He beckoned Bolin to the gym


	11. DrRipper

It had been about two weeks since Jet's arrest. Katara was fighting tooth and nail to try and make sure Jet would never get out, it was unlikely either way, but she felt as if she had an obligation to the victims. Katara had been by Zuko's side every night he had came home from work, and was practically living there. The pair had been having a movie marathon and were now watching some random movie they didn't know the name of. Zuko was currently kicking Katara's ass in Uno which make Katara pissed cause she hated losing.

Katara's eyes narrowed as she slapped down a green 8

Zuko smirked, then placed down two green 9's.

" Uno"

Katara grits her teeth. " you cheater"

" How am I cheating? I got two 9's and you didn't"

" Maybe you shuffled really shit-ily"

" That isn't a word, and no, I didn't because you're the one who shuffled."

Katara sighed, staring at her deck of cards. she finally slapped down a red 9.

Zuko grinned, then slapped down a red 2. " I win, what's my prize?"

" Your male ego gets to inflate a little more?" Katara suggested, pouting at him.

A piece of Katara's hair fell out of her messy bun as she sat up on her knees.

Zuko grinned, then grabbed onto her waist, tacking her to the ground. The Uno cards were strewn around the floor as he grabbed her wrists and pinned her.

" Hi"

" Hey" she whispered, looking at him with a playful twinkle in her eyes

" Can I have my prize?"

" Yuck, I'm not kissing you" she stuck her tongue out at him.

Zuko took an opportunity and licked her tongue, cackling as soon as Katara recoiled in shock.

" ZUKO WHY DID YOU-"

" I mean, It isn't the first time my tongue's been on yours before.." He grinned " plus we both know our tongues have been all over each other.." He growled lowly.

" Are you flirting with me?"

" I don't know, am I?" He poked her nose with his index finger.

" Your flirting could use some work" she jokes

" i've done just fine with my skills" he smiled.

Katara rolls her eyes and then looked into his eyes. She stroked her fingers along his scar gently. " you're lucky I like you so much, hot pants"

" Hot pants?"

" Yup. " she popped the 'p' and leaned up to kiss him.

He chuckled and kissed her deeply. The pair made quick work of discarding their clothes.

" Katara?" Zuko whispered, lifting his face from Katara's hair. He was really comfortable with snuggling with Katara, but the guilt kept eating away at him. He needed to tell her about Azula, but he wasn't sure time was right just this second. Azula ruined a lot of good things in his life, and he sure as hell was not gonna let her ruin Katara.

She tilted her head slightly, looking at him " hmm?"

" you good?"

" Yep. I'm good. I'm ready to go back to work" she pouted.

" Kat.."

" I'm fine. I told you, I'm fine, if I wasn't I wouldn't even say that I was ready"

" alright. I'll call Iroh and he'll get us some cases ready" he slid his thumb against her chin gently, smiling gently at her.

" Thank you" she beamed at him.

He chuckled, then stood up from the floor, sliding his pants back up his hips. " stay. I'm going to call him." He walked out onto the front porch and tapped on Iroh's number, listening to it ring. Someone picked up. Zuko felt his blood run cold. It wasn't Uncle.

" Hello, Brother"

Zuko growled. " Azula, what are you doing?"

" Having a nice cup of tea with Uncle. Maybe you should come down to his. He's planning on ordering takeout. I can convince him to grab your favorites." She purred.

" put him on the phone" he ordered, closing his eyes. The voice in the back of his head began to chant 'Azula always lies, Azula always lies, AZULA ALWAYS LIES"

" Fine, I'll put Uncle Kooky on the line" she shoved the phone at Iroh.

" Oh, hello nephew" he grinned.

Zuko sighed in relief. " so Azula didn't tie you up and hang out over a pit of sharks?"

" Honestly, Zuko do you think I would really kill Uncle?"

"... Yes?"

Azula rolled her eyes so hard, Zuko could probably hear it.

" Zuko, why don't you come over for dinner?"

" Can't. I'm with.." He trailed off"

" Oh, I see. How is Katara?"

" She's fine. She's ready to go back to work"

"Katara?" Azula asked curiously. Zuko and Iroh both ignored her and continued their conversation.

" She's sure?"

" That's what she said. Enjoy your night with Azula. Be careful"

" I can handle Azula, Zuko. Thank you for the concern" he said softly. It wasn't a good thing that Azula was around, but Iroh could handle her.

" Of course, Uncle."

" I'll prepare files for Katara in the morning"

" Sounds good. I'll tell her now, bye Uncle"

" Bye, Zuko" he hangs up and Zuko came back into the house, walking over to Katara.

" So I just got off the phone with Iroh, he'll send you the files in the morning."

Katara grinned, then wrapped her arms around Zuko's waist, looking up at him. " thanks for telling him I'm okay, and thank you for being so patient with me"

" Of course, Katara" he smiled. " I understand you need time. All of us understood that you needed a break from that"

she smiled once more and plopped back down on the sofa after she got changed.

" ready to go to bed?" Zuko grinned.

Katara flopped dramatically Into Zuko's arms. " carry me?" She grins.

" Sure, you little four sack" he snorted and carried her to his bedroom.

Katara woke up in the morning, smiling wide, usually, she would never be this chipper, but she was tired of being on leave.

" Wake up, Zuko" she rolled over on top of him.

Zuko grunted, blinking away the sleep from his eyes " what are you doing? Why are you so happy?"

Katara began to bounce on him childishly. " wake the hell up. I get to go to work today and be a real agent"

Zuko's hands went to her thighs as he stilled her from bouncing on him. He grunted and sighed, blowing some of his messy hair out of his eyes. " I get it, you're happy. Stop bouncing on me"

" Why?"

He huffed once more, then threw her off onto her side of the bed, laughing as he got up.

" You gonna shower with me?" He asks, playfully hitting her with one of the pillows.

" I can't. I'm gonna go home and get ready. I can't show up to work in one of your shirts, now can I "

" You wouldn't make it out of my house" he teased.

This time, she smacked him with a pillow and got up. " I'll see you at work" she leaned over and pecked his lips.

He chuckled against her lips and kissed back " be safe"

" Always" she teased.

After Katara arrived back to her apartment and got ready she finally opened her gun safe and placed it on her belt holster, right in between the space where her badge and handcuffs went. She was _so _ready to get back to work.

Sokka walked out, glancing at Katara " oh you're back. How was smoochy smoochy time with Zuko?"

" I'll spare you details, but it was great"

" ew. "

" You asked, this is your fault." She points her finger at him. " don't ask if you don't really want to know"

" Well, I care about you.. I just don't care about.. ya know"

Sokka chuckled, then opened the door for Suki.

Suki took one look at Katara and gasped. " Agni, look at you"

" Look at me what? Is there something wrong with my hair?" She began to frantically try and smooth her untamed curls.

" No. You just look really happy. I like that on you"

" Oh" she grinned. " thanks"

" Zuko must be really-"

Sokka cut her off with an overly dramatic retching noise. " do not finish that sentence, Suki."

" fine. Let's just get to work." she rolled her eyes and drove to work with Sokka and Katara.

Katara walked into Iroh's office, smiling a bit.

" Good morning, Iroh"

" Morning, Katara. How are you?"

" I'm good, I came by to get the case files"

" Of course, I need to update you on our new Technical Analyst. Her name is Asami Sato." He handed her a few files.

" You aren't gonna come with us then?"

He smiled. " I'm much too old to be involved in a lot of that stuff now. I trust all of you to do your jobs. I'm a phone call away, I'll be your supervisor still, just in the office with Asami, make sure she's got all of the ropes" he grinned. " plus, she won't be going in the field with you until she graduates from the academy. She's only here temporarily, trying it out.. if you will" he suggested as he stood up from his chair to finish brewing his tea.

" Oh. Makes sense. It was great having you to work with us as much as you did"

" I'm not going anywhere, Katara" he chuckled.

Katara gave him a soft smile and left the building. Good to know. She liked Iroh a lot.

Katara sat down at their infamous round table and began to read through the files. First she read up on Asami, then she read up on the case. Her heart sunk as soon as she saw the location.

Katara perked up as soon as she heard the door open and saw Aang duck his head to avoid hitting it on the doorframe.

" morning, Katara!" Aang said happily

" morning, Aang" she waved and smiled. " anyone else here yet?"

" Sokka is coming up now. Suki is with Zuko and Toph was yelling at someone.. so.. who knows how long they'll take"

" with Toph? Not long. They'll start crying "

" yeah" Aang chuckled. " what's our case for today?"

" you'll see." She sighed softly, shoving the crime scene photos over for him to look at.

Meanwhile, the rest of the agents made their way to the room, along with an unfamiliar female. She raised an eyebrow

" Who.."

" I'm Asami, your new technical analyst" she greeted, shaking Katara's hand.

" Oh! I'm Katara. Pleasure to meet you, I'm about to brief on the case"

Asami took a seat next to Sokka and Aang and smiled politely at them. Katara cleared her throat and motioned to the screen

: for the past two weeks there's been bodies popping up just outside the borders of The Northern Watertribe. the bodies have been drained of blood. By the looks of the way they were drained, someone really knew what they were doing. Uh-" she clicked onto another picture that showed the corpses. " because after they were drained, they were then chopped up, and preserved... especially cause.. of the cold weather." Explaining the cases always made Katara feel weird, but it was worse now because the image of those frozen corpses being hacked in pieces was now permanently engrained in her head.

The room was silent except for the sound of the air conditioner kicking on.

" Anyways, were gonna meet with the chief of police in a few hours. Hope you packed warm" she said awkwardly. Spirits, she would never be over having to brief everyone on horrid crimes.

" Aren't you and Sokka from there?" Toph asks

" actually Sokka and I are Southerners. It's still our sister tribe though" she nods.

" Wonder if that old guy, Pakku is still running things" Sokka hummed. " he's like a million by now"

" We'll see when we get there. " Katara laughed. " I think he's only a thousand though, Sokka"

Aang and Zuko headed out to the plane to place everyones's bags in the underbelly.

" What do you think it'll be like there?" Aang asked excitedly.

" Cold..?" Zuko stood up and blinked a bit.

" No.. I mean, do you think there's gonna be snow.."

" well, yeah, maybe." He shrugs. " maybe not, I've never been though. It's October, so who really knows what their weather is like in the fall."

Sokka steps passed the two, opening the door of the jet. " it'll be snowy. It snows about eight months of the year."

" When is it not snowy?"

Late June through early September, usually. The second week of September is when we all expect snow."

" So you two grew up with snow all the time?"

" More or less" he shrugs and moved to find a seat.

Toph, Suki and Katara piled on and got settled into their seats.

" So, will you tell us stories of your hometown?" Suki asks curiously.

" Why? we aren't going to our hometown.."

" Yeah, but it's still Water Tribe, don't you share some similarities?"

" Similarities, yeah, sure" Katara shrugged. " the South is a lot smaller, they're really sexist up North still, by the way" she added. " so don't be surprised if they barely take us seriously. They'll probably only talk to Aang, Zuko, and Sokka" she rolled her eyes

" Not a fan, I guess?" Aang asks.

" I like the culture, I mean.. technically they're family, I guess? I just.. don't like being treated like garbage, that's why our Gran-Gran left. She hated their ways"

" No one likes being treated like garbage." Sokka placed his hand on her shoulder and rubbed it comfortingly.

Katara sighed a bit. " well, our tribes believe in the Moon and Ocean spirit. Tui and La" she explained " legend has it that they live in the spirit oasis, but no one has ever seen them, some of the elders used to brag about it, but they were full of shit" she laughed a bit.

" That sounds kind of cool" Aang mused

Sokka and Katara both gave similar shrugs. It was home. They hadn't been anywhere near the Water Tribes since their mother died.

Katara laid her head against the panel of the airplane, beginning to draw patterns in the frosted glass. She wrote her name in a very fancy script and then began to make various other patterns.

" what is that" Suki asked curiously.

" it's Water Tribe."

" oh...?"

" usually we learn both English and our language." Sokka interjected.

Katara glanced out of the window once more, smiling wide as soon as she saw the snow on the ground. It was comforting to her. She remembered the times when sokka and her would crawl into their pelt covered beds and snuggle for warmth.

The plane landed twenty minutes later and Katara stretches her legs out a bit.

" Sokka and Aang you two head to the coroners office. See if you can see anything that no one else did. Toph and I will stay behind and coordinate with the local police. Zuko and Suki will head to the place where the last body was found to see if anyone missed anything" Katara announced, clicking on her iPad. " i sent everyone the locations of the areas were supposed to go. You gotta get there on ski mobile"

" ski.. mobile?"

" a car won't make it in all off this snow. Trust us. A lot of stuff we had to do involved using that and then hiking. "

" ah. Good ol Water Tribe." Sokka chuckled.

" how do we..."

" Sokka and I will drive, but Suki or Zuko will have to figure it out." She zipped up her parka and threw another one at Toph. " here. Zip it up and put your hoods up, the wind can be worse than the snow if you're not careful"

Zuko and Suki exited the plane.

" I'll drive" Zuko offered. They looked a little like water skii's he used to ride on as a kid.

" alright. I'll direct" Suki nods her head, climbing on the back behind Zuko.

Zuko revved the engine and began to take off, going slow at first so he could test it out.

" turn left in two miles. "

" got it" he shouted over the sound of the wind whipping and followed her direction until they entered an area that was still marked with yellow tape.

" all of the snow they get, it's unlikely we'll find anything new" Suki mumbled

" probably not, but it's worth a try. The quicker we find this sick son of a bitch the better. It's hard to believe someone would drain and then chop someone up. " he sighed, snapping on some gloves so they could search the scene again.

" anything?" Suki asked after a while, sniffling from the cold.

" nope. Nothing. You got anything?"

Zuko straightened himself up " no. There's nothing around, if there is it's been covered by the snow and ruined by the natural elements" he explained

" well, shit." Suki huffed " guess we should head back?"

" yep. Come on" Zuko got back on the snow mobile.

Aang and Sokka arrived at the coroners office and walked in.

Aang visibly cringed at the scent of chemicals.

" Hello, I'm Doctor Arnook " the man greeted, shaking both of their hands

" I'm Sokka Emiuk and this is Aang Gyatso. " Sokka said politely.

" tell us what you found" Aang mused

The doctor sighed a bit and walked over to a row of metal doors. He pulled one open and then unzipped a bag to reveal a frost bitten head, along with fingers and toes and other various limbs that were purple and covered in frost. " this is our victim. John Doe, cause of death was strangulation"

" strangulation? You're sure?" Sokka and Aang both said at the same time, confused.

Arnook nods. " he was tortured first, then they began to drain his blood. My guess is that the person who killed him snapped and strangled him. Once they finished draining the blood then they chopped him up in pieces"

" so they went way beyond overkill" Sokka asked.

" yes." He confirmed.

Aang hummed a bit in response and began to write on a notepad.

" anything else?" Sokka asks.

Arnook looked through his notes. " from the sheer force used, the suspect is Male. Mid to late thirties most likely. Unhinged, and the way that the cuts are made he had to have had some type of medical background"

" thank you, Doctor Arnook, we'll get back to the station and talk to the rest of our team about this. " Sokka smiled

Katara and Toph rode on their ski mobiles to the police department. The pair walked in

" Katara Emiuk." A loud voice rang out. She turned and looked in the direction of the voice and smiled

" Yue?" She gasped, embracing her old friend.

" what are you doing here?"

" I'm here for work.. the case.."

" oh. The ripper case."

" ripper..?" Toph asked in confusion

" well, the suspect obviously likes to.. rip.."

" technically they hacked." Katara corrected her. " anyways, what are you doing here?"

" well, I work in reception, but I saw you come through the door. I wasn't really sure it was you until I saw your face. How's Sokka?"

Katara stiffened. " he.. he's good" she said awkwardly. She did not want to talk to her brother's first girlfriend about him.

" lovely hearing you two chat, but can you direct us to the officer that's supposed to see us now?"

" that would be Hahn and Pakku"

" he'd still working?"

" somehow, yeah. We don't really know how but apparently he claims he isn't retiring until he's dead. " Yue laughed a bit, rolling her eyes as she pushed a button to clear Toph and Katara back into the offices. Yue then leads them down a hallway and through a few turns before entering a common room where a bunch of officers and detectives were gathered around a white board.

" in here" she smiled politely.

" thanks, Yue. See ya" Katara smiled politely as she walked in. " morning, officers and detectives" she stood up straighter, trying to assert herself as an alpha in a room full of hot headed sexist fools.

Pakku immediately recognized her and sneered " What are you two women doing here. Especially you, Katara?"

Katara bared her own teeth in a snarl. " I'm here, doing my job. You called the bureau. I happen to work for the bureau. Get over yourself and stop being an asshole to me just because my grandmother wouldn't marry you"

" ya know, we could leave and let you fools try to catch this killer" Toph snorts, crossing her arms over her chest.

" why would they send two women" Hahn asked, sizing Katara and Toph up.

Katara stormed over to the pair " because were damn good at our jobs. Cooperate with us and believe us, we're going to leave as soon as we can. We don't want to deal with this shit any longer that we need to. Suck up the fact that we are successful, capable women!" She shoved her finger at Pakku's chest. The bureau overpowered local police departments.

" well..get on with it. What do you have?"

" nothing yet. We have two teams out right now. " Katara rolls her eyes at the response.

" honestly, you guys must be awful detectives if you can't do that yourselves" Toph replied sassily

Katara would usually saw something about her attitude, but Pakku and Hahn deserved it. " so you have nothing?"

" other than what we have with the victims, no"

" well, let's see it"

Another officer handed a packet to Toph.

Katara leaned over and grabbed it from her, then opened it, scanning over it. " eight victims. Male and female. Same MO." She listed. " and that is all you guys have?"

" We just started" Hahn snapped at Katara

" That's okay, because we got more information by doing your jobs for you" Sokka said as he walked into the room. " M.E reports. Male suspect, possible medical background. Mid thirties to early forties." He listed.

" Thanks, Sokka" Katara shot her brother a glance.

" Aang is calling Asami and we're going through some people that have medical licenses in The Northern Water Tribe"

Just as Sokka was finishing writing on the board, Suki and Zuko walked in. " nothing new at the latest scene. Too much snow, the elements would've destroyed it."

Katara nods. " thought it might be" she sighed. " at least were a little closer to finding our suspect. Aang is calling Asami right now" she informed the rest of the group.

Asmi began to frantically type at her computer, frowning. It had been a full day since they had been in the Northern Water Tribe, but there was no results for any of her searches. She dialed Aang back.

The team were sitting in a conference room, going over what evidence they had so far. Toph was busy questioning some of the people that had medical licenses. They were at a dead end by now. No one had their licenses revoked or even had any flags to make them think they were suspicious. They we're about to give up for the day. Forty eight hours had gone by and they still had nothing.

Sokka was throwing a paper airplane, then gasped as soon as it smacked Zuko in the back of the head

" dude? What the hell?" He grunted

" sorry!" He squeaked, then widened his eyes with a sudden realisation " wait. I got it" he began to dial Asami's number

Asami answered " go"

" hey Asami can you widen your search range for people who recently moved to the Northern Water Tribe"

" from where?"

" try from the Southern Tribe. Check medical licenses and cross references practices that recently let someone go on top of that. "

" alright. I'm on it. It may take a bit.

" thanks, Asami."

Suki looked at her boyfriend, clearly impressed that he came up with the idea

" I didn't know you could be so smart" Toph grinned

" than- wait.. hey!"

" what Toph means, is that's impressive" Aang sighed, mentally facepalming. Sometimes Toph had awful timing.

" I just don't know how he came to that conclusion by smacking me in the back of a head with a paper airplane"

" I didn't, I got distracted thinking about it and I guess I accidentally hit him?" Sokka tried to explain

" still impressive." Katara shrugs, giving her brother a proud smile.

Sokka's phone began to ring and he answered it again. " Asami. Hey what do you have?"

" hey, Sokka put me on speaker first. This is for everyone to hear."

Sokka presses the speaker button and placed the phone on the table. " oh yeah, now what do you have?"

" A man by the name of Tarlok recently moved from the Southern Water Tribe to the Northern Tribes period he also had a medical license open till three months ago which is when The Murders began. Apparently he was native to the Northern Tribe but moved to the south when he was a kid... I am going to send the address to your phone's now but it's out in the middle of, like, nowhere which is the perfect place for someone to commit crimes like these..." she trailed off.

" what did he get fired for then?" Zuko asked

"It says he had an obsession with maiming cadavers and draining them of their blood, seems as if he's upgraded to live subjects.."

" thank you. We're on it" Sokka hung up and glanced at Katara " you wanna run this with me?"

" you sure you two wanna go?"

" we won't be alone, plus we know terrain like this better than anything.

The siblings hopped on their own snow mobiles and headed out to the address along with backup.

" you take the rear. I'll take the front " Sokka said softly to Katara

She nods and smiled a bit " he careful."

" always, baby sister" he smiled and headed to the front along with a few SWAT team members.

Katara made her way to the back, waiting for a moment before she kicked the door down. She began to make her way from the corners of the room, then down into the basement since Sokka took the top floors. She neared the basement door, then placed her hand on the knob, trying to open it. nothing. She sighed and backed up again, having to kick the door down, trying to stay focused as she heard Sokka yelling from upstairs.

She rounded the corner once more and placed the collar of her parka over her nose, cringing at the scent of formaldahyde. As soon as she caught sight of the medical tools and the tables spattered with blood she knew there would be bodies, and body parts. She was right. She looked around for a moment before picking her walkie talkie up" we're gonna need CSI out at the location."

" 10-4" came the reply.

Katara placed the walkie talkie back on her belt and continued to survey the scene. She nodded to another officer.

" I'm going up, CSI said they're enroute. You got the scene from here?"

" Got it, Agent Emiuk. Thanks for your help"

" No problem" Katara nodded and jogged up the stairs.

Upstairs, Sokka Begin making his way from room to room with his gun drawn. He then motioned to the last door on the right that was not cleared yet and one of the other SWAT team members busted it down. Tarlok stood with his hands Covered in blood as well as a bone saw in one hand and a literal hand in his other. He was cutting off the fingers on the hand and had been too focussed on it To hear that his doors were busted open.

" put down the saw!" Sokka yelled at Tarlok.

Tarlok stares at Sokka with wide eyes before slowly lowering the saw to the ground. He licked the blood off of his lower lip.

" put your hands up. Now." Another officer yelled, rushing foreword as they cleared the weapons from the scene to ensure Tarlok had no way of fighting back. Once he was in cuffs, Sokka growled the Miranda Rghts out to Tarlok.

" Tarlok Idlout you're under arrest for multiple homicides. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can be used against you in court. You have the right to talk to a lawyer for advice before we ask you any questions. You have the right to have a lawyer with you during questioning.f you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be appointed for you before any questioning if you wish." he tugged on the handcuffs and led Tarlok out of the building. Katara met up with him at the entrance, staring at Tarlok before looking back at her brother " I called CSI out. Looks like more bodies are down in the basement. "

" alright. Let's head back to the PD to get him into custody then we can go home"

Katara nods and watched as another officer took Tarlok and drove off back to the police department

Katara and Sokka walked into the doors only to be met by the rest of the team.

" I heard you called CSI out?" Toph asked

" yep. More bodies were found in the basement. He's in custody now. Our work here is done"

" you ready to get home?" Zuko asked, looking at Katara.

" definitely ready. It was nice to see the snow again, but seeing what I saw down there.." she sighed again, moving to hug Zuko. She couldn't explain it. It was just horrific.

" at least we caught him, he can never harm anyone again" Aang piped up.

" good thing too." Suki added.

After they said their last goodbyes to everyone( primarily Yue) they headed back to their plane and took off to Ba Sing Se once more.

" ugh. I missed my bed" Suki laughed

" me too. I need like twelve showers after seeing all of that" Katara mumbled

Zuko chuckled a bit. " that bad?"

" you have no idea." She plopped in her seat and began to google pictures of baby animals to cleanse the evil from her mind.


	12. Scream All You Want

Katara was walking back into the apartment after their case with Tarlok. It was late and she knew Sokka was staying at Suki's and Zuko was with Iroh so she would be alone for the night. She reached into her bag to grab for her keys, grumbling at herself as they fell out of her bag. She leaned down, but was met with a sharp pain in her neck. Her vision became blurry. Spirits, she had been injected with something. Katara began to stumble slightly, placing her hands on the wall to steady herself, but it wasn't good enough. She toppled over, succumbing to the drug injected in her veins. Azula had done the math to make sure that the shirshu poison would only render her unconscious and paralysed. That gave her enough time to do what she needed to do which was get Katara out of here.

Azula dragged Katara's limp body into her car and drove off. She knew there was no security cameras anywhere near the building. Azula was smart and cunning. She was always Ten steps ahead of her older brother. That's what he gets for not listening. When the woman woke up, she wouldn't be able to fight back. Azula scanned her body, doing a quick frisk to make sure if Katara woke up she couldn't shoot her. She tugged the pistol out of the holster, making sure she was unarmed.

" don't need this anymore" she mumbled a bit to herself, looking back at Katara's lip body and then closed the door to her car.

Katara slowly came to, placing a hand on her head as she rubbed her temples a bit, letting out a soft grunt of pain. The room was dark, she had no idea where she was. She slowly reached her hand for the gun on her belt and gasped when she realised it wasn't there. " what the hell?" She whispered to herself, continuing to feel around. She didn't have her gun on her belt, but she had the one strapped to her ankle. She was still so disoriented that she couldn't think about anything other than surveying her area.

" good morning princess" Azula flicked on the lights as she stared at her.

Katara gasped. " who are you?"

" My name isn't important. What is important is that you won't be able to stop us anymore"

Katara shakes her head, staring at Azula in confusion. " I don't understand?"

" I know you don't, sweetie" she pursed her lips, talking to her as if she was a toddler.

Katara fingered around her ankle for her pistol and pulled it out, clicking the safety off frantically. She looked up and gasped as Azula kicked the pistol out of her hand. Before katara could gather her bearings, Azula kicked the pistol out of Katara's reach.

Azula circled Katara, a dangerous smirk plastered on her lips. " so you're the little whore my brother is infatuated with?" She mused, moving to inspect her fingernails, unimpressed with Katara. She looked like a commoner, Zuzu could do so much better.

Katara bared her teeth in a snarl, looking down at her pistol that was on the floor. Azula kicked it away in their little spat earlier. " what are you talking about?" She spluttered, looking at her.

" Ka-tar-ah. Right?"

Katara rolled her eyes, but nodded.

" how do you know my name?" She asked

" I know everything my brother is involved in. I admit he was slippery for a while. After father burned his face, we thought he died. Zhao was supposed to kill him after that.. Zuzu was always so weak.. but it turns out he didn't and I had to send Mai to dispose of Zhao before father dearest found out that his disgraced son was still alive."

" you're fucking crazy!" Katara yelled

Azula laughed loudly, shaking her head

" and you're pathetic."

Azula grabbed Katara by the neck, then slammed her head against the wall as roughly as possible.

Katara felt her body explode with pain as she stumbled back, trying to fight against Azula but it was clear that whatever Azula had done to her was prohibiting her from being able to fight back properly.

" shame. You would've been a good opponent." She purred

" what did you do to me?" Katara spat, spitting blood in Azula's face

Azula hissed in anger, wiping it off of her pale cheeks " why you little-" she took a deep breath after a second. Her orders were not to kill the stupid brat. She couldn't kill Katara.

Katara then kicked her leg out, kicking Azula in the stomach. Azula grabbed onto Katara's leg and pulled her down with them. As soon as she had gotten a hold on Katara she twisted her leg, breaking it in two different places.

Katara shrieked in shock and pain, gripping Azula's wrists, tugging them off of her leg and then on top of her

The pair rolled onto the ground. Azula got the upper hand once more, straddling Katara.

Katara began to struggle against Azula, grabbing a piece of metal next to her and slamming it into Azula's head

Azula fall off of Katara. Katara began to get back to her feet, but when she turned around she was met face to face with a pistol. Azula was gonna shoot her with her own weapon. Katara suddenly felt a rush of adrenaline and anger as she then reached towards the gun, grabbing onto Azula's wrist to move the gun away from her. She slid the magazine with her thumb, making it fall to the ground and in one more swift motion she slid the lock back on the gun to unload the round that was in the gun chamber. The gun was unloaded. No use for it anymore.

Azula then grabbed onto her other wrist, turning and slamming the pistol against Katara's cheek. Katara grunted and fell backwards, kicking her leg out again, only to be met with Azula's talon-like claws digging into her broken leg. She yelped in pain, then lost balance, toppling over with Azula once more. She let out a grunt as she fell to the ground, climbing on top of Azula. She reared her fist back, ready to punch Azula in the face.

Katara was winning and it felt good to be able to kick Azula's ass. That's what she deserved for kidnapping an agent. She felt so powerful.

Suddenly, she felt dizzy and slumped to the ground, passed out.

Ty Lee stood behind Katara with a small smirk on her lips. She had jabbed the right pressure points to render Katara powerless.

" remember. We can't kill her" Ty Lee reminded Azula.

Azula hissed in frustration and shoved Katara off of her. Everything was supposed to go perfectly, and it didn't. Perfect. Precise. If Li and Lo saw her now, they would berate her until the end of times

" sloppy" she hissed to herself, then began to help Ty Lee chain Katara up.

Katara slowly regained consciousness, feeling her body ache. She didn't know where she was and it was terrifying. Her arms were bound in chains and she was elevated slightly. Her feet were on the ground, but only barely. She could feel her deltoid muscles screaming with every strain. Katara began to wiggle a bit, desperately trying to hide her cries of pain.

" she's awake" a voice finally said.

Katara bared her teeth, raising her head in the direction of the voice. Mai sauntered close to Katara, placing a cool blade against her cheek..

" Water Tribe. Huh." She mused

Katara hissed in frustration as Mai dug the blade into her cheek.

A small stream of blood poured down her cheek.

" what do you want with me?"

" we want to get you out of the way. You're a distraction"

" what are you talking about?" Katara gasped out.

Azula didn't answer her, but grabbed onto a water hose, signalling Ty Lee to turn the water on.

Mai grabbed Katara by her hair. Katara hissed in frustration, but held her head high as she looked at Azula and Ty Lee

" if you cooperate this will be a little less painful" Azula purred, getting close to Katara's face.

" I don't know what you're talking about!"

Azula sighed, them motioned for Mai and Ty Lee to leave. The pair obeyed and left the room. Azula got close to Katara once more, then blasted the water in her face. The water was excruciatingly hot.

" I'm going to go easy on you for now."

" well don't" she spat some of the water out of her mouth, coughing loudly.

" you'd rather me subject you to undergo waterboarding then?" Azula raises a perfectly arched eyebrow

Katara glared.

Azula took this as an answer and dropped the hose.

" why are you telling me what you're gonna do to me?"

" because it's amusing to see your eyes light up with fear" Azula mused, loosening the chains slightly. She walked behind katara and kicked her to her knees, then wrapped a chain tightly around her neck. Azula then knelt down to look at Katara as she wrapped the ends of the chains around her wrist

" crawl like the filth you are." Azula smirked, practically dragging Katara over to a large basin.

Katara gagged a bit at the feeling of the chains around her neck. The only things they were free were her feet, but she couldn't struggle to them. Whatever Ty Lee did to her made all of her limbs feel like jelly.

Azula grabbed Katara by the base of her hair, then shoved her head into the basin, keeping her submerged for a few seconds before tugging Katara back up.

Katara choked on air, spluttering frantically as she caught her breath

" don't worry. This won't be how you die" Azula hummed, repeating the motion of shoving her head in the water a few more times before she stopped.

" I'm disappointed. I thought you were supposed to like water?" Azula questioned.

Katara coughed so hard she vomited on the floor. Azula loosened her grip on her hair and shoved Katara to the ground.

" I do like water, just not when my head is shoved it in involuntarily and repeatedly "

" feisty. Now I see why Zuzu likes you." she mused.

Katara felt dizzier then before. She rolled over onto her back, not caring that she had been thrown down in her own puddle of vomit. She was just grateful for the sweet air in her lungs. It was too much for her. Her eyes rolled back and she slumped over, passing out once more. Azula grabbed onto the chains that were wrapped around Katara's wrists and began to drag her back away from the water. She then suspended Katara up again, staring at her limp body

" thank the spirits. Watching her get wet was getting boring" Mai sighed, playing with one of her knives.

" what do you suggest we do then?"

" why don't I use her for target practice?" Mai suggests

Azula grinned. " I'd like that" she hummed a bit and began to lower Katara's chains again to try and get Katara's feet on the ground.

Mai smirked, inching forward, drawing her arm back as she slid her finger against the cool metal of the knife.

" can I do it, please Azula? You had your fun I want some."

" go ahead, Mai." Azula nods.

Mai grinned again, then chucked the knife at Katara. It whizzed past the side of her head, slicing it slightly as it landed in the wooden panel behind them with a loud ' thunk'

Azula raised an eyebrow, but Mai continued to purposely miss hitting Katara since she was still unconscious. After a few more minutes, katara lifts her head, feeling blood pour down into her face. She grimaced and struggled once more.

" wakey-wakey" Mai said boredly.

" what are you doing! " Katara asked weakly, hissing in frustration.

" well, I was bored" Mai shrugs

" so you're using me for target practice? You must really suck if you need a human subject" she retorts, rolling her eyes

Mai grits her teeth and then launched the knife at Katara again. It lodged itself in her upper thigh and Katara let out a shriek of pain, rocking herself back and fourth, struggling desperately against the chains as she wailed

" think I suck now?"

Katara bit back another retort, staring at Mai. Her bottom lip trembled, but she refused to cry. She was exhausted and hurting more than she had ever hurt in her entire life.

" I'm done here" Mai said coldly, turning and leaving.

Katara slumped over once more, tears leaking down her cheeks. She closed her eyes and desperately tried to keep herself calm. She felt someone inject her with something in the juncture between her neck and shoulder. She couldn't even protest to that. All she felt afterwords was hot, searing pain and she scented the smell of burning flesh. She knew she was the one burning, but the injections had drugged her up so badly her reaction times were slow. Too slow. Her mind began to wonder to Zuko and her brother. Would they be too slow too?

" help" she rasped.

There was no reply. No one to help.


	13. Prepositions

All Katara could feel now was white-hot bursts of pain. It was as if someone was shoving a poker into her body. She prayed to whichever deity that was out there that her demise would be quick instead of continuously drawn out like her torture had been. She didn't know how long she had been here, but it was long enough to make her loose sense of hope. She was hallucinating and Definitely a little high off of pain medicine that Ty Lee had given to her. Ty Lee was the only one that Katara didn't want to kill. The bubbly acrobat had the decency to stitch up her cheek and get her pain medicine to help her cope with her injuries.

Katara's wounds had stopped bleeding ages ago and scabbed over. She yearned for a shower and for some kind of relief from being chained up.

Katara's head slowly fell foreword as she let out a quiet cry of frustration and pain. " I want to get out of here" she mumbled to herself. She could be loud and scream and kick, but what was the use? She counted days, but lost track after a week. She knew that her team had to be looking for her, yet deep down she wondered if they would ever come.

Katara bit down on her lip roughly, letting out a soft hiss of frustration as a dribble of crimson blood trailed down her chin and dripped onto the tile. Her eyes glazed over in fear and realization. She was alone, she had to rely on her own skills to get her the hell out of here because no one would come. Her team was the best of the best, and if they didn't find her by now then they wouldn't be able to find her at all.

Azula sat down at the breakfast table with her ankles crossed. She was waiting for her father as she sipped on her tea nervously. usually she wasn't one to get so nervous, but Ozai was horrifying, and well, an awful parent.

Ozai was a cruel man, once he had not been so cruel, but jealousy and ambition drove him to lead the violence ring that he was the patriarch of now.

" Azula, do you have any updates for me?" He purred, stepping into the room and draping his red velvet jacket over the lush chair.

Azula looked into Ozai's eyes, then nodded once. " I think that I can get through to the.. peasant. She can tell us more about Zuko, and maybe she can be beneficial to us"

" How so, daughter?" Ozai snarled.

" She's breaking. It's been weeks though. I know that there's people looking for her.." She began telling Ozai about her elaborate plan in hopes that he would agree to let her do things this way.

" I have one thing to say, Azula" Ozai said cooly.

Azula flinched. Usually when he said that he would shoot her down.

" Of course, father. What is it?"

Ozai inhaled deeply, then gently stroked his beard. " I will let you do whatever you want with the girl, whatever your plan is, implement it."

" Thank-"

Ozai held his hand up to stop her.

" No, I said LISTEN." He nearly snarled as he slammed his open palm against the table. " do what you want, do not kill her yet. I don't want her dead for a reason, got it?"

" Of course father." She nodded, then stood up from her seat. It was best to get out of his sight when he was in a mood.

" I have a preposition for you, Katara" Azula said softly, crossing her arms over her chest.

Katara lifted her head up. " what is it?" She asked softly, not wanting to speak to firmly out of fear that her voice would break and she would completely lose it.

" I want you to join me. Join _US._" She motioned to Mai and then towards Ty Lee who was playing with her braid.

" why would you want that?"

" because you know the bureau better than anybody. You're a powerful asset and you can be an ally instead of a tortured prisoner."

Katara thought for a moment. Unfortunately, her odds weren't very good with being a prisoner. As an ally to them, at least she could collect information on whatever this organization was, as well as a means of seeing her friends again.

Azula quirked her brow. " so, what do you say? Do you want to do this?"

" Do what exactly?"

" Are you that dumb?" Mai snorted.

Katara gritted her teeth. " no, I meant what do you want with me and what is my intended purpose if I become your ally?"

" Oh, I think you already know the answer to that.." Azula purred softly, smirking." And I dont think it's something I need to say outl oud. You know what I want."

" What do I get out of it?"

" freedom. A family"

" I already have a family"

" Not like this. Plus I have a little bit of intel about something special to your heart"

" What?"

Azula held up a manilla envelope. " this look like something that tickles your fancy?"

Katara stared at the envelope in confusion until her eyes scanned over the words 'Kya Emiuk"

" That.."

" Your mother, right? How did she die?"

" I don't know." Katara admitted

" Well, I do. And you can know too if you join us"

Katara contemplated once more. Could she really betray everything she worked for in order to get the truth about what happened to her mother? How could she ever justify doing these evil deeds?

Then again, maybe she would never see them again. Zuko told her that Azula always lies, so maybe that just meant that no one would come for her, they were already dead.

On the other hand. Maybe they weren't.

Katara couldn't let herself continue to be tortured any longer. She swallowed her saliva and looked at Azula.

" So?"

" So, I'm in. I will join you."

" I knew that you would pick the best option, Katara." Azula grinned. " Ty Lee, unchain her and be careful. " she ordered.

Ty Lee slowly let down the chains, then walked forward to catch her.

Katara collapsed into her arms slightly, heavily favoring her good leg.

" Lets get you patched up more, okay?"

" No."

"No?"

" Shower first. Then patch up. Then we talk about this. I want to know what I'm doing, why I'm doing it and I want that file. I refuse to do anything else without knowing the contents that lay in that file"

" You think you can negotiate?" Mai scoffs.

" yeah. I do, because I am your connection to the bureau, and I'm a trained agent so now that I know things what makes you think that I won't do anything against you?"

" You won't."

" maybe. Maybe not," she shrugged. " I have no reason to trust any of you just like you have no reason to trust me."

" Stop it" Azula rolled her eyes " look, I dont really get your power play dynamic or whatever, just shut the hell up. Katara isn't stupid enough to betray us and you're not stupid enough to provoke someone who you just tortured for weeks. She's loose now, and you will be civil with each other."

Mai bared her teeth at Katara, but stayed silent.

Katara's lip curled and her

Fingers twitched involuntarily. Katara itched to wrap her fingers around Mai's perfect, dainty little neck and choke her until she was purple and blue.

" yeah. You're right. I'll be civil." Katara nodded. " as long as Mai is too."

Mai nodded in agreement.

Ty Lee motioned Katara upstairs and shoved a pair of cotton black and red clothes into her arms.

" what?"

" this is for you. Our.. uh"

" you guys have matching uniforms?" Katara deadpanned

" well, yeah. I guess? aren't you an agent?"

" Yeah, but we don't wear matching gear other than our vests since were a special unit"

Ty Lee sighs. " so it isn't really that different, the outfit is comfy, you can move in it."

" god I really do feel like I'm living in a prison" Katara grumbles.

" you're not. You're free.. you just can't.. leave."

" so, prison, but slightly better?"

" exactly!"

" whatever. Just.. show me to the showers." She snorted, limping heavily after Ty Lee.

Ty Lee opened a door and motioned once more. " here. Take your time."

Katara scanned the area for anything she could use as a weapon, then frowned

" dont."

" how do you know what I was thinking?"

Ty Lee sighed. " I just do. I was in your position once. There's no windows. Nothing that you can use. Even if you tried, the guards would be alerted by it first thing. Just take your shower and get changed. There's a nurse that will look after your injuries."

" there's a nurse?"

" well yeah, do you think we're barbarians?"

" honestly? Yes."

Ty Lee shakes her head once more and closed the door behind her to let Katara have her privacy.

Katara turned the water on as hot as it would go, then stood still for a moment before tearing her old clothes off of her body in frustration. She should've been better. She felt as if she was tearing away the last part of her old life. In a way, she was, but the clothes couldn't be salvaged. She started in the mirror at herself in anger and self-loathing.

" come on, Katara. Get it together. You can't go back. Not now." She hissed, then touched her cheek. It would scar. Katara felt the rage boil inside her again. How DARE Mai maim her face and use her like she was a practice dummy. Agni, she really hated her.

Katara's hand trailed down her collarbone and then down her breasts and to her stomach. She had lost quite a bit of weight and her body was battered and bruised. She pushed on one of the purple bruises on her thigh and let out a shaky laugh. She was utterly broken.

Katara decided to finally step into the water and refused to give anyone the satisfaction of hearing her in pain. She quickly sat down and brought her good leg to her chest, placing her forehead on her kneecap.

" fuck. Fuck fuck fuck!" She murmured. " I'm so sorry, I hope you can all forgive me." She begged silently for her team, even though she knew they wouldn't hear her. She watched the grime and dried blood go down the drain as well as her last attempts to keep herself sane. She was tired of this and she wanted to play the game with Azula. It was time for someone to knock that smug bitch off of her pedestal.

Katara quickly washed her body and her hair, then turned the faucet off. She got out of the shower, then stood in front of the mirror again. She felt as if she would never be clean of this blood-thirst desire that bubbled up inside her. She quickly changed in the clothes Ty Le left for her and finger-brushed her hair before tying it in a messy braid.

" you can do this." She whispered to herself. The colors looked strange on her, but not wrong. It was a contrast from her usual blues or whites, but it wasn't unwelcome.

Katara walked out of the bathroom only to be greeted by a woman with a smile

" hello, Katara is it?"

Katara felt like she should run, but she didn't. She nodded instead

" excellent. I'm the Nurse. My name is Song and I'll be taking care of you. Step into THIE room with me please."

Katara rolled her shoulders back and stepped in with Song.

" just sit on the bed. I'll take a look at your injuries and then make sure you get some food and rest. You look a little skinny."

Katara huffed. She had never heard anyone describe her as 'skinny' before. She was proud of her curves and toned body, but now she didn't have that anymore. She sat on the bed and responded to Song with one worded answers instead of an in detail story. She was certain Song already knew how she got the injuries.

" your leg is broken, but I'll give you a brace to help you walk on it. Keep as little weight on it as possible. It seems as if Ty Lee already stitched you up where you need to be. Not perfect, but it's good enough to hold." She mused. " your bruises are purpling and fading. How do you feel?"

" tired. Hungry."

" i'm almost done. I promise. I'm prescribing you some pain meds"

" no."

" are you sure?"

" I'm fine. "

" you aren't, but you can deny care. I can't make you."

" good. Cause I said no." She pulled away from Song. " just go. I'm tired. "

" alright. I'll update Azula on your condition and I'll have someone send up food. It won't be very fatty though.. you'll make yourself ill if you gorge yourself."

Katara would've been offended if she really cared. " sure. Okay"

Song gave her a sad smile and left her alone.

Katara curled up on her good side, and stared at the wall until she was greeted by the door opening.

Ty Lee walked in with a tray of broth and some crackers.

" Hi!" She greeted.

Katara didn't reply.

" listen. I know you hate it here. It grows on you."

Katara glared.

" it's broth and some crackers.. and water. Don't drink it too fast"

" what are you, my mother?"

" I just-"

" dont!" She snapped, snatching the tray from Ty Lee. She greedily began to eat, but remembered her training and slowed down.

" are you watching the show?"

" sorry!" Ty Lee squeaked and scampered away.

Mai had come to retrieve her after her meal, despite Katara's body protesting for her to fall into a month long rest.

" Come on. Azula wants to see you"

" Could she not come get me?"

" No"

" So you're just her pet" Katara hummed.

" I said come on" Mai threatens, placing her knife at the small of Katara's grits her teeth as she walked in front of Mai.

" Dont slow down" she warned

Katara felt her eyes water with fruition. She had to do it.

She turned to the side, then grabbed onto Mai's knife arm, slamming her against the wall. She then grabbed onto her thumb and her wrist bone and shattered it with one quick motion, sighing in relief as soon as the knife clattered to the floor.

Her fingers got that urge again. They were alone. She could do it. She knew she had the chance and it was now or never. Katara reached up, placing her hands on either side of Mai's neck before jerking it quickly. Mai's body fell with a thud and Katara let out a soft laugh as she stepped over Mai's body.

" Well well well. Congratulations Katara. It seems as if I was right and you'll be a fantastic asset indeed." Azula clapped, giving her a small smirk.

Katara looked at Azula. " fantastic. I'm glad I am of use to you."

" We have much to talk about then"

" Fuck you!"

" shush. You'll like this. It's about your mother"

That shut Katara up quickly.


End file.
